Loaded Gun Complex
by Gianna Reede
Summary: The Trio was able to graduate from Hogwarts without so much as a peep from the Dark Lord. But things within the small group of friends is unraveling fast. When Hermione leaves to get some space, a friendly face helps her start a new life. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 01

Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Harry Potter except for the hundreds of posters and memorabilia I have stored in small compartments around my house.

* * *

Hermione slammed the book shut, her usual respect for the old tomes out the window. Her frustration was mounting by the minute and there were no signs of it getting better any time soon. She let out a deep sigh before taking the rather large book back over to the shelf and putting it back in its correct place. She turned around fast at the noise behind her, her wand out in a flash and pointed at the intruder's chest. She let out an audible sound of relief when she saw it was only Ron, holding his hands up by his head.

"Geez, it's only me Hermione," he said, lowering his arms as she lowered her wand.

"Sorry Ron. Just been on edge lately."

"Well that's understandable. We all are," he supplied as he plopped down in the chair Hermione had been occupying only moments ago.

"Has Harry had any luck?" she asked, knowing what his answer would be as she saw the crestfallen look wash over his face.

"Nope, not even a clue. You'd think he would have found _something_ by now. He's been at it for _weeks_! If it wasn't for mum practically knocking down his door at mealtimes, he would have wasted away already."

Hermione sat down in the chair beside Ron, her head resting on the table and her hand reaching for his on his lap. She held onto it as if her life depended on it.

"Hermione," he started. "I wanted to talk to you. You see-"

"Ronald! Hermione!" came Mrs. Weasley's call from the fireplace. "Supper's ready!"

Hermione gave Ron's hand a brief squeeze before standing up and grabbing the next book off the shelf to take with her. Ron gave her a weak smile before they both apparated from the library and into Ron's bedroom at the Burrow. Hermione set the book on the bed before walking into the hallway after Ron and down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Find anything?" came Mr. Weasley's hopeful question.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer when she realized the question wasn't directed to her. She saw a very disgruntled Harry take his seat next to Ron and take off his glasses to wipe his eyes thoroughly.

"Nothing," he said after a moment. "Not a bloody thing."

"Harry," Hermione started. "You can't expect to find the answer just inside the Penseive. We don't even know what we're looking for."

"I do," he said flatly. "Anything related to the location of a possible Horcrux. Anything related to the bloody bastard that killed my parents and my mentor."

"But we don't-"

"I DO!" Harry shouted. He laid his head down on the table, burying his face in his arms.

"How about you Hermione?" Arthur asked expectantly, trying to change the subject a little.

"Nothing in the last 4 volumes. I brought back another volume and I think I'll start working on it tonight. R.A.B. has to be in there somewhere and-"

Hermione was cut off by Harry's laughter. Everyone looked over at him as he raised his head. "Hermione," he said as his laughter dwindled to chuckles. "The answer isn't always in a book. There are some things that will NEVER be in a book."

"And there are some memories that Dumbledore DIDN'T put in that Penseive, but that doesn't stop you," she bit back, offended at his laughter.

"Don't you DARE tell me it's the same thing. Don't you-"

"I DARE! What's so different? Dumbledore obviously didn't know about R.A.B., OR where the other horcruxes were located, or what most of them were."

"At least he knew something! And we don't know if he knew about R.A.B. or not. I have to keep looking until I find _something_."

"And while you're looking for something that may not exist, people out there are suffering. We need to concentrate on something more substantial than a selection of memories in a Penseive."

"Like your books that have anything to offer?" Harry spat back at her, the exhaustion clearly written on his face as well as hers.

"I think that's enough you two," Arthur said with a sad look on his face as Molly brought in their dinner.

As Molly set the food on the table, Hermione stood up, her chair scraping the floor loudly in the silence that had fallen over the room. "I'm not hungry," she mumbled before brushing past Molly and up to Ron's bedroom to gather the book she had brought with her.

"Well that went brilliantly," Ron mumbled before reaching across the table to serve himself.

* * *

"Hermione," said Professor McGonagall. Well, I guess you could say Headmistress McGonagall now. "Hermione," she repeated, waking the girl that had fallen asleep on top of her book in the study.

"Professor?" she asked wearily, wiping the fuzziness out of her eyes.

"I think it's time you head to bed. You would have been mighty sore tomorrow if you had stayed like that all night."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed as she realized where she had fallen asleep. "What time is it?"

"Almost 3 in the morning,"McGonagall sighed as she slowly sat down in a chair across the room.

"Are you just getting here?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes, it's been a long night at the Ministry. And there is a meeting of the Order tomorrow evening. One that will probably be more difficult than I care to imagine at this late hour."

"If it's about Dumbledore's Penseive, watch out for Harry. I got yelled at for suggesting it might not hold all the answers."

McGonagall sighed. "It's going to be difficult tearing him away from that after we finally defeat You-Know-Who. He's dangerously attached to it, hoping that it will bring Albus back," she said, a hiccup in her throat as she mentioned the former Headmaster's name. It was hard to beleive he had already been gone for a year. The wound was still fresh for the entire wizarding world. The only good thing that had happened the past year was Hogwarts had been allowed to stay open and the trio was able to graduate without incident. The entire wizarding world was shocked that no other Dark Marks had been seen since the night one was prominently displayed over the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It seemed Lord Voldemort was planning something that took all his resources. And that did not bode well for the rest of the world, muggle and wizarding alike.

"I only hope he does find something useful in it before it's too late," Hermione said quietly.

"Well," McGonagall said in a more professional tone. "I think it's time for you to be off to bed. And try not to wake anyone, they need all the rest they can get. I think tomorrow night will be a long night indeed."

* * *

McGonagall eyed everyone sitting in the room for a minute as they settled in for a long evening. Molly had been kind enough to pass out coffee to everyone and leave a warming coffee pot on the table. Minerva was tired, more tired than she had been in years, but her new responsibilities wouldn't let her rest for more than absolutely necessary. She sighed deeply and cleared her throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"As I have warned most of you, this evening will be a trying one. One which, I'm sure, a few of you won't want to sit through or listen to," she said, her eyes settling on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron looked away from the towering woman, hoping to escape her notice. "It has come to my attention that we are flying blind here. We have neither an inside spy with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or anyone who could inform us of You-Know-Who's intentions or where his other horcruxes are. So, the ONLY thing we can possibly do is hope for the best with what we have."

There were murmurs around the room, speculating at what she was getting at. Minerva cleared her throat again. "OR," she said loudly. "We could have a man spy on You-Know-Who again."

This time the speculating was loud and overpowering.

"None of us would ever be able to get close to him. He knows all of us!" Arthur protested.

"Right," Tonks supplied. "And Remus is taking every risk he can with the werewolves and that isn't getting us much of anything."

"There is one person that isn't here that can very readily do that job for us. They are waiting for me inside the sitting room, anxious to help. They just need some understanding." Minerva sighed. Here comes the hard part. "As much as you all think this person is wholely evil, and will never be on our side," McGonagall said as her eyes washed over Harry. "They are on our side. Their past acts may have been evil and will not endear him to us at all, BUT there was a reason for them. A reason that I would more like this person to explain than me."

McGonagall walked out of the room, leaving it to the whispers of the occupants. Hermione looked over and saw Harry's fists clenching and unclenching.

"Harry?" she whispered, getting his attention. "Are you all right?"

"It's Snape," Harry hissed back. "She brought him back into this house after what he did," he insisted.

"Don't be silly Harry, Professor McGonagall would never do something like that!" Hermione reasoned. She looked desperately at Ron for a little support when the gasps from the rest of the room made her eyes dart forward to the large body hunching in the doorway.

"I do beleive Severus would like to resume his duties, IF-" she shouted, cutting off their yelling so they settled into death glares. "You will all just LISTEN!"

All eyes in the room turned to the lanky figure of the man they hated more than Lord Voldemort at the moment and waited for something to spill out of his lips that would explain why he murdered the only man they beleived could protect them. Hermione glanced over and saw that Harry was holding on by a thread. One wrong word and she was afraid Harry would be guilty of murder.

"I realize," he started in a tired voice, "that to some of you, what I did was unexcusable. And I have to admit, it was. But do not blame me entirely for something I was forced to do."

"You weren't under the Imperius, Snape. You knew what you were doing," Harry spat at him.

"I never said I was," the dark man answered flatly. "'I was under the Unbreakable Vow to either assist young Draco Malfoy with his mission to kill Albus Dumbledore, or to do it for him if he were to fail."

This admission caused the room to break out in a frenzy. "Unbreakable Vow's are taken willingly, not forcefully," said Remus's voice above the others.

"You are quite right. I did do it willingly. But I had to prove my loyalties to the Dark Lord or I would not be able to assist you now. Albus knew this. He-"

"YOU LIAR!" Harry yelled as he stood up out of his seat. "He begged you not to do it! He was trying to tell you not to!"

"NO! He was telling me TO DO IT!" Snape sneered. "We both knew it had to be done. We had many...loud discussions about it before. He did what he thought he had to do to protect a young man from dying and an old fool from being useless in his cause."

"To protect Malfoy?" asked Ron with venom in his voice. "He wasn't worth protecting."

"That may be your opinion, Mr. Weasley," Snape answered. "But if you were close enough to him, he did not want to do it. That was not the life he chose for himself, but rather one his father chose for him. He didn't want to kill Albus any more than you did."

"He's right," Harry said, surprising everyone in the room. "I saw him."

At this Snape paled. "You were there?"

"I was. Dumbledore had me hidden under my invisiblity cloak and I was frozen against the wall when Draco barged through the door. Dumbledore was arguing with him. Draco sounded...afraid, scared. But even though he threatened so many times to kill him, he lowered his wand slowly after every word. His wand was down, he wasn't going to do it." Harry looked up at Snape, tears of hatred in his eyes. "Until you came up and did it for him!"

* * *

Hermione stared at the ceiling, the tears falling freely from her eyes, but she did not make a sound. She didn't want to wake Ginny who was sleeping on the bed beside her. At least McGonagall hadn't lied when she said it was going to be a long night. They hadn't even bothered to adjourn officially until well after 3, and no one even left after that. The shouting match that had occured between Snape and Harry was something no one dared interrupt. After it had gotten quite out of control, Hermione had done the one thing she could think of. She cast a silencing charm on the entire room, causing a lot of glares to come her way, particularly from Harry and Snape.

"I think there has been enough unproductive yelling here. This isn't helping anyone, and neither is being unagreeable. Whether you two like it or not, we NEED Snape. I'm not saying I trust him farther than I could throw him," she added quickly when Ron and Harry both looked at her like she was the one that had murdered Dumbledore. "All I'm saying is he's all we have and there is no use wasting time like this. Now I'm going to release the Silencing Charm, but do NOT start arguing again or I might have to do it again, and forget the counter spell!"

With a flick of the wrist and the spell rolling off her tongue, Harry and Ron had both started yelling at her while Snape took his chance to glide back into a dark corner and glower at the trio.

"How could you do that Hermione?" Ron started. "You know he did it because he wanted to!"

"Oh please Ron, can't you listen to reason when it's staring you in the face?"

"I. Can't. Beleive. You. Did. That. To. Me," Harry said, his temper barely under control, his right hand clutching his wand dangerously tight.

"I did it to stop this nonsense and try to get this settled in a more civilized way. We can't afford to waste the time arguing-"

"How dare you!" Harry shouted at her, silencing everyone else in the room at the anger and hidden threat in his tone. "Next time I want you to intervene in MY business, I'll ask you for a BOOK!"

Hermione stared at her best friend, shocked into silence. She looked over at Ron who was avoiding her eyes and standing beside Harry for support. "Am I really that useless to you?" she asked quietly.

"You do nothing but read books all day long. You haven't provided anything we need," Harry said venomously.

"And you staring into the Penseive for the last 23 days has? I don't remember you telling us some vital piece of information you have found in there!" Hermione said back forcefully, trying not to cry in front of the people around them.

"It's more useful to me than your books are to you."

"It's not going to bring him back," Hermione said with a stony glare at Harry.

At this Harry actually raised his Wand at Hermione. If McGonagall hadn't immediately 'accio'd' his wand away, Snape might not have been the only one in the room that was a murderer.

* * *

Hermione glanced around the hallway before slipping out of Ginny's room and into the Study. She was surprised to see Snape and McGonagall in there, talking in hushed voices in the corner. They both looked up when she walked in. It was only 5am and she was supposed to still be in bed.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I couldn't sleep and I thought I would just work a little more in my useless books," she said, trailing off her last few words before more silent tears disobeyed her and ran down her cheeks.

"Come over here and sit down," McGonagall said, guiding Hermione over to the table where she poured the young woman a cup of tea. "I know this is hard for you, it's hard on all of us."

"It's not that. I know it's hard for everyone, but for Harry to just-" Hermione couldn't finish her sentence. She just stared down into the cup of tea, wrapping her hands around the mug to warm them.

"Ms. Granger," Snape started as he made his way over to them. She looked up at him, wiping a lone tear off her cheek. "I know it will take a while, but Harry and Ron will eventually come around and-"

"No they won't," she whispered. "And I don't think either of them will ever forgive me for trying."

"I think right now, everyone is a bit on edge. We've been cooped up trying our best for a month now without a break," McGonagall explained. "I think it would be best, Ms. Granger, if you found someplace else safe to stay for a while." McGonagall sighed and tried not to look too upset about the entire situation. "Just until Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley settle down from this whole...thing..."

"I know," Hermione sighed. "I was going to go anyway." This confession took both adults by surprise. "Harry and I haven't been getting along very well since graduation and Ron is nothing but a puppy dog that follows Harry around all the time. All it took was one more wrong move by me to send him over the edge. I knew I had crossed the line when I did it, but it had to be done. I thought maybe it would show him how silly he was being about everything. But that backfired quite brilliantly," she added in a resigned voice.

"I realize that this situation has changed everyone, but after it's all over, things that were said will be forgotten and we can all pick up the pieces again," McGonagall said with a comforting smile.

"Thank you for lying to me," Hermione said with a smile.

"Do you have someplace to stay?" asked the older woman.

"I think so," Hermione said, chewing on her bottom lip. "I just hope the invitation is still open."

* * *

Guess WHO? >:)


	2. Chapter 02

Disclaimer: I can only dreamm of owning anything remotely close to the rights of Harry Potter of any of it's characters.

A/N: Thank you for your fast reviews! I was surprised to see them so soon.

* * *

A sudden nervousness enveloped the young witch as she waited for the morning post in the kitchen of the Burrow. She had been pushing her pancakes around on her plate for the better part of 20 minutes already, thankful Harry and Ron had opted to eat at Headquarters. She didn't know if she could face them after what happened only a few hours before.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else dear?" said Mrs. Weasley, doing her best to be extra nice to the girl in front of her.

"No, just not feeling all that great," she admitted.

"Yes, well, boys will do that to you. They all do it eventually."

"Pull a wand on you?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Well, no, not that particularly..."Mrs. Weasley trailed off. "But they all lose their temper when they are confronted with reason."

Hermione gave her a weak smile before looking back down at the sticky mess on her plate, rearranging it into the shape of a frowning face.

"Oh my!" she heard Mrs. Weasley exclaim. Hermione looked up to see a handsome dark brown owl flying over the poor woman's head, zigging and zagging around the ceiling.

Hermione got up and grabbed the tired looking animal, taking the letter from it and setting it down beside her plate. She let the poor thing eat the remainder of her breakfast as she inspected the letter. It was the response she had been waiting for. The butterflies in her stomach increased and she pushed them down. She hoped her invitation was still open. She held her breath as she broke apart the seal and pulled out the parchment.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I would be honored to have you stay with me over the summer. _

_I actually never thought you would accept my invitation, and I _

_am glad you did. It will give us a chance to catch up on everything. _

_I will meet you in Hogsmeade this afternoon at 3 since you wish _

_to leave quickly. I will be in front of Honeydukes. I hope you _

_are alright._

_Your friend,_

_Viktor_

Hermione actually gave Mrs. Weasley a genuine smile as she stood up to hug the startled witch. "Thank you for everything," Hermione said as she hugged her. "I'm sorry to give you such short notice but since things are getting...rough, I'm staying with a friend for a bit to give Ron and Harry some room."

"Oh my. I don't want to see you go, but it probably is best right now," she agreed with a frown. "When are you leaving dearie?"

"I'm going to meet them at Hogsmeade at 3, if I could use your Floo of course."

"Wow, so soon. I guess it is for the best dear. And of course you can use the Floo. Come on," said the older witch. "I'll help you pack."

* * *

Hermione glanced around, her finger twirling a piece of her hair absent mindedly. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It wasn't like she was going to stay with a boyfriend. He was just a friend. A very good friend. A very good friend that would drop what he was doing and accept an invitation he had given her 3 years ago.

The one thing Hermione would never admit is that she spent 2 hours getting ready after she packed. She just couldn't decide what to wear to see someone she had almost dated and had been a pen-pal with for 3 years. She had finally decided on a black tank dress made of silk that came to her ankles and a pair of black sandals. She wore a dark crimson robe over her dress, lined with gold. It was the robe she had worn at graduation. Every Gryffindor that graduated had one. Then she rushed off to do her hair, thankful it wouldn't be nearly as hard to fix as it was last time she had seen him. Her unruly curls had grown out so they were soft ringlets down her back, and not as knotty or tangled as usual. For that, she was thankful. And for this occassion, she chose to wear her hair down.

Hermione turned around to stare in the window of Honeydukes, contemplating buying something chocolate while she waited.

"Hermione?" came an accented voice behind her, making her jump out of her skin.

Hermione turned around to see Viktor standing there, a giant smile on his face. She had to control her mouth from dropping open as she took in the sight before her. He was taller, or maybe the same height, just not hunching over anymore. His hair was longer, pulled back into a ponytail, and his body had filled out. Hermione didn't even have to see under his robes to know the muscle he had gained. She gave him a giant grin before uncharactaristicly throwing herself at him for a hug. She didn't know what had possessed her to do that, but she found she rather liked it.

His long arms encircled her waist, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around in the air, gaining the attention of most of the people around them. Hermione felt his body pressed against hers and a blush formed on her cheeks. She was definitely right about his muscles.

"It's so good to see you," he said after he put her down, only one arm dropping from around her waist. "Vhen I saw the urgency in your letter, I vondered if everything vas ok."

"Well, yes and no," she said with a small smile. "I just needed to get away from...everything."

"Vell, I vould be happy to be a distraction for you anytime you like." He looked down at her suitcase on the ground. "Is that all you brought?"

"It's all I had with me, so I guess so."

"It's nice to know some vomen can pack light," he said with a light laugh.

Hermione just smiled at him as she took his arm after he had picked up her suitcase with his opposite hand. They walked down the street arm in arm, the butterflies in Hermione's stomach growing in number by the second. She took this chance to study Viktor out of the corner of her eye. He was still breathtakingly handsome to her, crooked nose and all. And with his skin more tan and his hair longer, he looked more mature, and he looked like he had finally grown into his hands and feet. She felt the the muscle in his arm flex underneath hers and a brief smile crossed her face.

Hermione mentally berated herself. This was her friend, a very good friend that had helped her through a lot of rough times during her last 3 years at Hogwarts. This was the first man who also realized she was a female and not one of the guys as well, she reminder herself. Nothing dumber than crossing the line with a friend, she also reminded herself. She had tried that with Ron and it had ended a complete failure. It had taken Harry a full 2 months for the two of them to speak to each other again. Oh well, she sighed. At least she could talk to him in person instead of by Owl every week. Those poor owls.

* * *

Hermione hadn't realized how tightly she had been holding on to Viktor until he chuckled and looked down at her. They had just floo'd to his house and even though he had her around the waist, she clung onto him as if her life depended on it.

"Sorry," she apologized. "The Floo hasn't really been kind to me."

He chuckled warmly at her. "Don't vorry. I von't let anything harm you." Viktor set her suitcase down on the floor and quickly wiped the dust off himself as Hermione did the same. "Vell, velcome to my home."

Hermione caught the particular emphasis on the word 'my' but thought nothing of it at the time. She looked around her, the light sparkling from the windows and bouncing all around the room. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but this definitely wasn't it. It was a cozy living room with light colored carpet and furniture to match.

"Vould you like a tour?" he asked, extending his arm.

"Very much, thank you," she accepted, taking his offered arm.

Viktor looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye, admiring her smile as he took her room to room. She was more beautiful than he had remembered and it just made his heart ache worse. Seeing her again reminded him of why he wanted her so much in the first place. He sighed inwardly. He knew she only wanted to be his friend and he wasn't going to do anything to put that friendship in jeopardy.

"And this is your room," he said, leading her into a spacious bedroom decorated with light greens and golds and a matching bathroom that was bigger than Ginny Weasley's bedroom. After he watched her admire the giant bathtub, he lead her to the doors on the other side of her bed that opened up to the balcony.

"Oh my," she whispered. "It's beautiful," she said louder as she took in the gardens below her room.

"Yes, it really is," he commented, his eyes never leaving her face.

After a minute more of staring out into the gardens Hermione looked up at Viktor who was still looking at her. She blushed.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just can't beleive how much you've changed since I saw you last."

"I was 14 Viktor," she said with a laugh. "I'm almost 18 now. People change a lot in 4 years."

"Vell, you only seemed to have changed on the outside. You're still the same Hermione as ever on the inside," he chided.

"I would like to think I've matured more than THAT," she said with a laugh, causing Viktor to chuckle.

"Of course you have. You're a voman now, there's no mistaking that."

Hermione felt her face getting redder. "Thank you Viktor. That's very sweet."

"I'm not trying to be sweet, I'm being honest. That's what friends do."

If Viktor had been looking at her eyes instead of her lips he would have noticed the disappointment flash through them before she hid it again.

"So, where is your parent's room? I think we've been through the entire house and I don't remember it."

"I said this vas my house. I don't live vith them. I haven't since I graduated."

"Oh! I didn't realize!" she said, the butterflies in her stomach coming back in full force.

"Is that a problem?"

"Oh, no. I just didn't know. This is an awfully big place for just one person."

"Ve are two now, so it's just right."

Hermione looked away and back down at the garden, a feeling of longing in her heart. She would love to stay here with him forever, even if they were never more than friends. But she knew she could never do that. Eventually she would receive Harry and Ron's apology and she would go back and help them with everything.

"Vould you like to eat something? I could make dinner."

"That would be wonderful!" Hermione took his arm again and he lead them back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Ve might as vell get comfortable vhile ve are here," he said, taking off his robe. Hermione stared as he hung his Robe on the back of a chair. He was wearing black slacks and a dark grey shirt and clung to his every muscle as he moved. Hermione moved to take off her robe after Viktor turned back around, tearing her eyes off him.

Viktor went to pull 2 glasses out of his cabinet and turned back around to see Hermione standing in his kitchen wearing the most seductive dress he had ever seen. The fabric seemed to cling to each curve of her body, twisting and turning as she moved. He felt his mouth go dry and his hands shake slightly before he pulled himself together and went to set the glasses down on the table she was now sitting at.

"That is a beautiful dress," he said as he stood back up.

"Thank you. I never really had an occassion to wear it, but this one seemed as good as any."

"I'm an occassion now, am I?"

"When you haven't seen a good friend in 3 years, you tend to think of it as an occassion when you do," she said with a smile as he poured each of them a drink. "Thank you," she murmured.

Viktor smiled, but it was only on the outside. She had used the 'friend' word again. He knew he was guilty of using it himself, but it was worse when she said it. "So," he said. "Vhat vould you like to eat tonight, m'lady?"

* * *

An hour later had both of them laughing over one of Harry and Ron's adventures as they drank a cup of warm chamomile tea after their meal. Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes as she calmed down. She realized how much she missed Harry and Ron. Suddenly her tears went from happy to sad. Once she started, she couldn't stop. The next thing she knew she was in Viktor's arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck and just cried. He never asked why, he never moved except the soft stroking of her hair. He was perfect.

Hermione broke the embrace and pulled away from him, leaning down and putting her head in her hands, covering her face. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Vhat do you have to be sorry about?"

"I didn't mean to just...cry like that."

"It's ok. If you need to cry, I'll be here for you. Unless you want me to go away that is."

"No," she said, looking up at him with tear streaks running down her face. "I don't want you to go."

"Then I won't." He was propped up on one knee in front of her, a look of concern on his face.

"You must think I'm such a girl," she said lightly. "One minute I'm laughing, the next I'm crying."

"I've seen grown men do the same thing, so I vouldn't vorry about that too much," he said with a smile.

She let out a strangled laugh before just staring at the floor, her tears drying on her face. "They just haven't been the same," she started. "After we graduated Harry and Ron just started acting so...different towards me. I mean, I don't even know what made them do it! All I know is I'm trying to stop an arguement Harry is having and the next thing he has his wand pointed at me." This brought a fresh rain of tears that went silently down her face. "I just don't know what he would have done if Professor McGonagall hadn't taken it from him a second after he did it. I just...I don't..." She shook her head and sighed deeply.

"I'm sure he vill calm down and apologize until the day he dies," Viktor said as he reached up and brushed the tears off her cheeks. Her breath hitched in her throat at his touch, and she hoped he didn't notice.

She let out a small laugh. "You're probably right. We argue a lot. This one was just a little more serious than the others."

"See, it vill all be better soon. Then you an go back and rub it in his face that he vas vrong and you vere right." Viktor put on a smile for her, but he really didn't want her to go. He had spent 3 years trying to build any kind of relationship with the woman sitting in front of him, and now that he had one, he desperately wanted to make it a different kind of relationship.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for everything."

"It is my pleasure." Viktor stood up, grabbed his tea and headed for the door on the other side of the living room. "Vould you like to tour the garden vhile ve finish our tea?" he asked.

A smile lit up her face. "I would love to!"

* * *

I promise fluffiness in the next chapter. ;)


	3. Chapter 03

Disclaimer: I own nothing...except the actions. ;)

A/N: mrs. skywalker: Actually, I hadn't thought of that song. I was refering to the way the characters seem to just 'shoot off' and go do something stupid/drastic. But thanks for letting me know the lyrics, LOL.

OMG IT'S A POOL SCENE!

* * *

Hermione looked up as the owl tapped on the kitchen door. She stood up with her coffee and opened it, letting the tired Pigwidgeon fly into the house long enough to land with a flop on the table. "You poor thing!" she said as she gave him one of her waffles to eat as she took the letter from him. It was from Ginny.

_Hermione,_

_I miss you so much. You were the only girl I could  
__talk to around here. No one else even seems to pay  
__attention to me. Harry and Ron are still being gits to  
__everyone around them. I think it might be a good  
__little while before they get the wand out of their  
__arses and apologize for being bloody idiots to  
__you. I hope you're doing ok. Mum never told me  
__where you are, so I just hope you're safe._

_Love,  
__Ginny_

Hermione folded the letter closed and held it to her chest. She had been at Viktor's for 2 weeks and things were fine. Well, they were better than fine she had to admit to herself. Viktor was spoiling her rotten and she was loving every minute of it. They had been spending every day together doing anything she wanted. Mostly that meant long hours in his library, but he seemed content with it. But he had taken her shopping for a bathing suit the day before since she didn't have one and she was dying to test out his pool, then the jacuzzi next to it. She smiled when she remembered him trying to pay for it and not letting him. The sales clerk nearly had a panic attack about whose money to take. He was even more upset after she paid and then **still** wouldn't let him see it.

Viktor walked into his kitchen wearing only his black pajama pants and padded over to make himself a cup of coffee. That's when he turned and saw a small owl devouring the rest of Hermione's breakfast and a letter in her hand that was pressed to her chest, her eyes closed. He felt his own chest tighten in fear that she was going to leave soon. He hadn't spent enough time with her yet for her to leave. Well, he had to admit to himself, a lifetime would still not be enough time for him. "Anything of note in the post this morning?" he asked, startling her out of her reverie.

"Oh, just a letter from Ginny. She was updating me on how much of a git Harry and Ron are being," she said with a smile. "Same as always. They can hold a grudge forever if someone doesn't talk them out of it." That's when her eyes came into focus and saw a nearly naked Viktor standing only a few feet from her. She took in the definition of his muscle and let out a sigh that she hoped didn't sound too much like the groan it had orignially been. He was drop dead gorgeous and she would just love to have him all to herself. But, that nagging feeling always came back when her mind wandered to other possibilities. He is just your friend.

"They vill figure it out for themselves if someone doesn't knock it into them first," he reassured her as he took his seat at the table, propping his feet up on the chair next to him.

"Too bad I can't be the one to knock it into them," she said with a laugh as she watched his chest move up and down with every breath he took. She hadn't realized she was staring until he mentioned it.

"Are you all right?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just letting my mind wander." Hermione looked down at the poor owl still laying on the table after eating her entire waffle. "I guess I should write back so she doesn't think I've died." Hermione got up and fetched some parchment and a quill from her room and bounded back into the kitchen to write her reply.

After Hermione sent poor Pigwidgeon back to the Burrow, she turned around and looked at Viktor. "You think it's too early to go swimming?" she asked.

"It's never too early for swimming," he replied with a grin.

* * *

Hermione dipped her toe into the pool, testing the water's temperature. Surprisingly, she had beaten Viktor out to the pool and wanted to be in the water before he came out and saw her. As she heard him approaching behind her, she cursed silently under her breath. So much for small miracles.

She turned around to see a very sexy Viktor walk out onto the patio in nothing but a pair of black swimming trunks. Hermione felt her head getting lighter and her heart racing. She watched as he walked into the sunlight, shielding his eyes at first with his hand so he wasn't blinded. The muscles in his chest flexed along with the ones on his arm as he raised it, and then lowered it. She was transfixed, and knew if she didn't turn away soon, she would be guilty of drooling.

Viktor walked over to Hermione, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight. She was wearing a simple black bathing suit, but what surprised him most was that it was a two piece. And it fit her like a second skin. This time she didn't have anything covering her curves and she looked radiant. It was hard to take his eyes off her but he had to or he would have another hard problem to take care of.

"You look amazing," he said as he walked up to her. She put her arms up to cover her stomach and he grabbed them. "Don't think you ever need to hide anything from me," he said, his face dangerously close to hers. He put her arms down back at her sides. "See, that's not so bad, is it?"

Hermione's face was red. "I'm not a very...outgoing person," she said. "I have this self conscious thing that-"

"Vell stop it."

"Stop it?"

"Yes, I'm not someone you should be self conscious in front of, so don't be."

"Well, I...umm...well...I guess you're right," she said, finally coming to the conclusion if he said it was ok, then it must be.

"Thank you," he said before diving straight into the pool, splashing Hermione in the process. She watched him as he swam to the other side and stood up by the edge, the water dripping off his body shining in the sunlight. "Are you getting in?"

At that, she took her own dive into the pool and swam over to where he was. She was nowhere near as good a swimmer as he was, but she wasn't horrible either.

"I vas beginning to think you vould melt if you got vet."

Hermione bit back the answer she almost said. He was referring to getting in the pool, not...other activities. Viktor noticed the slight blush across her cheeks and immediately realized the implications of what he said. Before he could correct himself, he found a handful of water in his face. He shook it off and looked at a grinning Hermione now a few feet away from him.

"That vasn't fair," he said, closing in on the girl.

"Neither was your comment," she retorted.

"Vait now, I didn't mean it like-" Viktor found more water in his face this time, and heard her laughing and swimming away. "Oh no you don't." He swam after her, barely grabbing one of her arms and pulling her over to him. She tugged to free herself, and splashed more water at him. He let go of her long enough to splash her back.

"You dare splash a lady?" she asked.

"If it's you, yes."

"Hey now-" Another splash of water came at her and she backed off to do one of her own. This time when she splashed, Viktor had predicted it and dove under the water to avoid it, coming up a few feet away from it. And then he splashed her again. She laughed and splashed him back, hitting this time. The next time he sent a splash at her, however, she employed his tactic and dove under to miss it. But he still got her when she surfaced. "No fair!" she called.

"I think it's fair. You vould have done the same thing to me."

"So?" she asked, preparing to splash him again.

He dove and surfaced right in front of her. As the water dripped off his eyelashes, he realized just how close she was. There wasn't even an inch between their bodies, and only a few inches between their faces. She was looking up at him with those eyes. Those eyes that made him want to melt, that made him want her to claim as his own forever. What really made his heart race was the way she was looking at him. She looked like he felt. Could it be that she actually like him more than as a friend?

Hermione's heart raced in her chest, and her mouth went dry. She stared up into Viktor's face, wanting desperately to pull his face the rest of the way down to hers. She nervously bit her bottom lip, then let it go, not wanting to show him how nervous he was making her. Hermione could have sworn she heard a low growl in his throat before his lips came down onto hers. For a moment she was too shocked to do anything. The man she had wanted since she laid eyes on was kissing her.

Hermione brought her arms up out of the water slowly and wrapped them around his neck as she began to kiss him back. His lips were soft, warm, and inviting. Then she felt his tongue ever so slightly run along her bottom lip. She gasped and open her mouth, letting him slide it the rest of the way in. She shyly began to stroke his tongue with hers, building up more courage when she heard the moan in the back of his throat. Her fingers tangled in the back of his hair, drawing him down closer into her. She could do this forever.

Suddenly, his hands grabbed her on the back of her thighs and lifted her up. She instinctively wrapped her legs aound his waist, bringing them closer together. He slowly backed them up until she felt her back press up against the wall. A small moan espaced her mouth as he slightly bit her bottom lip. It sent a shock through her body, and chills down her spine. She knew that at this moment, she would do anything for this man, anything he asked of her.

There was a heat building up inside of her as their kiss grew more fiery, a growing need she knew a kiss wouldn't fulfill. She felt Viktor pull away and she let out a moan of protest until his lips were on her neck, kissing it over and over, leaving a hot trail down one side before starting on the other. As he softly bit the tender flesh between her shoulder and neck, Hermione reflexively moved her hips against him, feeling just how much he wanted her.

That's what shocked him out of his fantasy and into reality. He pushed away from her fast, her legs falling back down in the water. She looked at him with confusion written all over her face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-argh!" Viktor hauled himself out of the water and walked back into the house, the dripping water leaving a trail behind him. "Dammit!" he yelled when he got into his room. He punched the door over and over again. He knew he had messed things up. He had crossed that line with Hermione and there would be no going back. He knew she would be mad at him, but he was more angry at himself. As he punched the door again, his knuckle hit the hinge and it felt like his hand exploded. Viktor let out a string of Bulgarian that would have made any normal person's ears melt if they knew what it meant.

Hermione just stared at the door he had gone into, hoping he would come back out and apologize for stopping. Apologize for robbing her of his touch. As the minutes passed, she realized it wasn't going to happen. She laid her head back on the wall and stared at the clouds, tears forming in her eyes. Maybe he didn't want her after all.

* * *

Poor wet Viktor...poor little Hermione. I'm so mean...


	4. Chapter 04

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter, no matter how much I beg.

A/N: Advanced warning, there is FLUFF IN THIS CHAPTER!

* * *

The loud thunk of the glass on the table was the only sound that had been uttered in hours. It echoed strangely around the room, reminding them of the heavy air resting between them. Hermione's eyes refused to focus on the sentence she had been trying to read for the last hour. With a resigned sigh she shut the book a little more forcefully than intended and walked out of the library, towards her room. Just being in his presence unnerved her now. They hadn't spoken except the minimum polite conversation in almost a week. It was starting to take its toll on her.

Hermione made her way over to her bed and plopped down, closing her eyes to ease the strain out of them. After a few minutes she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Viktor walked towards Hermione's room, to let her know dinner was ready. He knocked lightly on the door, pushing it open in the process. His dark eyes scanned the room for her, and found her laying back on her bed, sleeping peacefully. A half smile curved his lips as walked over to wake her. He went to shake her awake, but was transfixed by the peaceful look on her face. She hadn't looked like that since before...before he had kissed her.

He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. He was going to have to do _something_ to make it up to her, and he already had a feeling of how to start. Caressing her cheek lightly, he moved a stray curl out of her face.

"Hermione," he whispered. He shook her shoulder gently. "Hermione."

Hermione's eyes slowly opened, taking in the sight of Viktor above her. Wait a minute, _above her_? Hermione realized that she was still on her bed, and Viktor was leaning over her, so very close.

"Dinner's ready. Didn't vant you to sleep through it," he said, standing back up.

Hermione sat up and ran her fingers through her curls before she yawned and stood up. "Thank you, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's ok. You looked tired, so I'm glad you got some rest."

Viktor pulled Hermione's chair out for her, like he always did before taking his own chair. When Hermione had first arrived, she was happy to see he had a normal 4 person table, and not a long table where they would be at opposite ends. Now she felt like she would rather have the latter.

They ate in silence, the only noise was their utensils clanging against their plates.

"Strawberries?" Viktor asked her, slightly scaring her.

"Sorry, what?"

"Strawberries. Do you vant any?"

"Oh, that would be nice, thank you."

Viktor stood and pulled out a basket of strawberries and carried it over to the table. He set it down in between them, watching as she grabbed one to eat. He watched her for a moment before bracing himself to speak.

"Hermione, I vanted to ask you something."

Hermione's eyebrow raised in response. "Yes?"

"Vell, you see. My parent's usually go to this International Relations Ball but they're on their third Honeymoon."

"Third?" Hermione said with a little laugh.

Viktor smiled. "Yeah, third. Anyway, I vas vondering if you vould vant to accompany me to the ball, since I agreed to go in their place..."

Hermione was slightly taken aback. He wanted her to go to a ball with him? Then a sinking feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach. He was trying to be nice to her. But she didn't see any reason why she couldn't enjoy herself.

"I would love to," she said with a small smile before grabbing another strawberry.

"Great," he said. "Now, unless you packed a ballgown in that small suitcase of yours, ve vill go shopping tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?"

"Vell yes, the ball is tomorrow evening."

"Oh."

* * *

Hermione stood in the dressing room, looking in the mirror and feeling, for lack of a better word, stupid. This felt like the millionth dress she had tried on and the stack on the chair beside her was steadily getting bigger. She knew the sales lady was about to pull her hair out...or her Hermione's for that matter. The woman helped Hermione out of the dress she was currently in, the black and blues swirling around as she wriggled it down her hips.

She looked in the mirror, and tried to straighten her hair out. It was looking more and more like it did when she had first started Hogwarts after every dress she had to pull on over her head. She let out a sigh of frustration at a very stubborn tangle and leaned back against the wall. She heard Viktor's low voice speaking with the lady, but too low for her to make anything out.

After all was silent for a few moments, the clerk returned with a black bag. Her curiousity piqued, Hermione watched with intrest as it was unzipped and a gown was brought out.

"Oh my!" Hermione exclaimed. It was a beautiful dress made of lavendar and trimmed in small silver vines. She stood patiently as the woman undid every little clasp on the back and gathered the layers to pull over Hermione's head. She bent down and allowed the dress to be pulled down and the woman to begin working the clasps back together.

Hermione gazed at herself in the mirror. It was strapless and molded to her skin until just below her hips, where it flared out in multiple layers of lavendar and silver. After the woman was done, Hermione twirled, emitting a girlish giggle.

"I think we have finally found the one!" the woman exclaimed. Hermione just beamed at her.

* * *

Hermione hadn't wanted to take the dress off, but she did anyway, knowing she would get to spend the entire evening in it. And for once, she didn't look at the price tag. Although, some of that was due to the fact Viktor insisted on paying for this one.

She spun in front of the mirror again, the skirts whooshing around her legs. She clasped her hands together and looked at herself one last time before she slipped on the silver cloak that came with it. She slipped her shoes that matched onto her feet as she left her room, knowing Viktor was already waiting for her. As she walked into the living room, she saw him standing in front of the fireplace, his back to her.

He was speaking Bulgarian, very fast, and didn't sound very happy. Hermione was just about to say something when he turned around and saw her. He gave her a small smile before walking over.

"Are you ready to leave?"

"I think so."

Viktor laughed. "I hope so, ve are already a little late."

Hermione took his offered hand hesitantly.

"I von't bite, I just prefer apparating us both myself."

A blush formed on Hermione's cheeks. She was thankful he didn't seem to notice as she felt the tug behind her belly button.

They appeared in front of a beautiful building with columns seeming to hold the entire structure up. Magic was the only thing keeping it from caving in Hermione noticed as they walked through the door.

Viktor walked into the well lit building, guiding his...escort with him. He sighed to himself. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring her here. The thought of her wearing anything like she had been when they were at the Yule Ball made him feel like taking her as his own and never letting go. It was worse still since he hadn't even seen the dress Hermione was wearing.

They walked down the carpet, the beautiful fish woven in swimming under their feet. As they neared the double doors at the end, Viktor felt Hermione's arm tighten on his.

"Don't vorry," he comforted. "I'll stay by you." He looked down long enough to give her a reassuring smile before he handed the doorman their tickets and then swung the doors open for them to enter.

Viktor squinted his eyes as they walked into the ballroom, the lighting just a tad too bright to see at first. He turned and handed his cloak to the man beside and waited for Hermione to place her hand back on his arm. As she did, he placed his other hand over hers, squeezing it gently as he felt her tremble just a little. Little did he know she wsa trembling because of him, not because of the crowd.

And a crowd it was. Wizards and Witches from every country were there. You could hear snippets of conversations in at least a dozen different languages. For once, Hermione thought she was in way over her head. And it wasn't any better when she noticed several people blatantly staring at her. She looked away from them, hoping they would stop as a slight blush crossed her cheeks. She allowed Viktor to guide her through the crowd, trying to avoid anymore stares, but it was no use. By the time they were approaching, whom Hermione recognized as the ex-Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, it felt like almost all the people around them were looking at her. She took comfort in the fact they were probably staring at Viktor and she was just in the way.

Viktor felt Hermione slowly get closer and closer to him as they walked. He was thrilled at her closeness, but worried at why she was dong it. Then he looked away from the group of people he was headed to and saw she was being, well, gawked at. Viktor's eyebrows raised at a few of the young men and they quickly looked away.

That's when Viktor turned to say something to Hermione, but he felt his mouth suddenly go dry. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever set eyes on. He scanned his eyes over her curls that were pulled back from her face and hanging down her back, down over her face that was turning pink from embarrassment, down over the curves the dress clung to, and back up again.

Hermione's breath hitched when Viktor leaned down towards her. She was afraid he was going to kiss her in the middle of all these people. But then again, she wouldn't mind that much. Instead he went past her face and his lips barely brushed her ear.

"Dance vith me."

It wasn't a question but Hermione answered anyway. "Yes," she whispered, his face still very near hers. She felt the sudden lack of body heat when he pulled away, and caught herself as she almost leaned back into him to get it back again. She once again let him guide her through the crowd and onto the much less populated dance floor.

Viktor placed his hand firmly on her hip, keeping her other hand in his. He smiled slightly as he realized that at this moment, she was all his. He stepped into her, his body pressing lightly against hers. He looked down at her hoping to catch her eye, but found her staring at his chest instead.

Hermione's heart sped up as she felt Viktor moving against her. It was all she could do to not trip and fall as he started leading her around the dance floor. She stared at his chest and tried to block him out, and concentrate on keeping her feet moving. For once in her life, she was thankful for her mother's 'Family Togetherness' whims. It was one such whim that had the three of them taking ballroom dancing lessons when she was 13. At the time she had complained, but at the moment she was thanking her mother's random ideas.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly heard Viktor say. She was taken aback and looked straight up into is eyes, transfixed.

"For what?" she asked.

Viktor let out a sigh, not sure exactly what he should apologize for, but knowing he owed her one. "For anything I did to upset you."

"Apology accepted," she said after a moment, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Vould you tell me what I just apologized for?" Viktor held his breath, nervous about what her answer was going to be. He stared into her eyes, his feet starting to slow. She looked down at her feet before looking up at him again.

"For stopping."

All the air flew out of Viktor's lungs. His feet stopped in their tracks, oblivious to the people casting them annoyed looks as they stood in the middle of the dance floor. Hermione's cheeks were now bright red, but she didn't stop looking up at him.

She couldn't believe she just said that. Her mind was screaming no, but when she opened her mouth the words came out anyway. Now all she had to do was wait for an answer. And all he was doing was standing there, looking unsure of what to do. Hermione started getting worried, wishing he would say or do something.

Just as Hermione was about to walk away she felt the hand he had on her hip wrap the rest of the way around her waist and pull her body flat against his. Her heart began beating faster, her breathing becoming shallow. That's when she saw his face slowly getting closer to hers. She closed her eyes and met his lips with hers. She moved her arms around his neck, standing on her toes to press into his lips more. A small chill went down her spine as she felt his free hand reach around and hold the back of her neck.

Viktor supressed a gasp of surprise when she was the one that ran her tongue along his lip. He gladly stepped up to the challenge. He clung to her like a lifeline. He felt so cold without her near him, so alone without her presence.

It felt like time stood still to the couple on the dance floor. They weren't in a ball room, they weren't surrounded by people. It was just the two of them, forever trapped in the bonds of an embrace that would last eternity.

"At least someone gets what these International Relations balls are about."

* * *

OMG THAT WAS SOOO FLUFFY! Now the question is...should I skip the rest of the evening? Or continue? 


	5. Chapter 05

Disclaimer: I own the 6 Harry Potter books, the first 4 I even have several copies of in hardback and softcover. I own a neat Herry Potter Poster from the Book 6 reservation, along with the odds and ends that came along with it, my favorite being the armband. BUT, I do NOT own Harry Potter. Thank you for your time and attention.

A/N: Sorry for all you underage readers (like that stops 90& of you) but from this point on, this story's rating has gone from a strong T to a definite M. Also, I loves the reviews so keep them up!

Warning: I had fun writing this, so beware :)

* * *

Hermione's face burned red and her breathing was heavy. She looked down at her feet and just wished the floor of the ball room would just open up and swallow her whole. She mentally kicked herself for letting things get a little out of control in a room full of wizards and witches from almost every nation on the planet. But still...she couldn't quite wipe she smile off her face, and was barely able to keep it from being too much of a smile. She finally looked up at Viktor as he kept his arm around her waist and led her off the dance floor. She noticed he didn't seem bothered by it at all, which made her feel a bit more at ease.

"Vould you like a drink?" he asked her, a twinkle in his eyes.

Still smiling, Hermione nodded. "I could definitely use a drink after that."

Viktor laughed lightly as they made their way to the refreshments. After they both had a glass of some sort of maroon liquid, Viktor was approached by Cornelius Fudge himself.

"Ah, Viktor," he said warmly, while shaking his free hand. "So good to see you. It's been what, 3 years."

"Yes, it's been quite a vhile."

"I was wondering if I would be able to talk to you at all this evening. Your lovely date seems to have you tied up."

Hermione almost snorted in her drink at that comment...almost. She looked up at Viktor with a mischevious look on her face before clearing it quickly with a light smile directed at the former Minister of Magic.

Hermione heard Viktor's light laugh again as his free hand slid around her waist again, protectively. "It seems to me she has the attention of most of the people here," Viktor said. At this, Hermione blushed and unconsciously moved closer to him, and he tightened his arm around her.

"Would it be too much to ask you and, I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name..."

"Hermione Granger," she said, allowing him to take her hand and kiss it lightly.

"Ah, Ms. Granger. I remember you, although you've changed a lot in 3 years. If I'm not mistaken weren't you two a couple back then as well?"

Hermione was struggling for words, but couldn't find any to describe what her and Viktor was back then.

"Hermione was a close friend vhen I was in a foreign country," Viktor explained. "Ve have kept touch over the years."

"Ah yes. It's nice to know there's some normalcy after...everything," Fudge finally said. "Actually, that's one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you. It seems our new Minister," Fudge started, a little aggrivation coming out when he said Minister, "is trying to gather 'forces' from other nations that might not see the threat as immediate. He was hoping we would build up enough strength at the homefront, so, uh, well-"

"To scare him off?" Hermione said with a laugh. "Unlikely, and I think we both know that."

Fudge gave her a tired smile. "I know, but we have to try everything we can. If it comes down to war, we'll fight. But we need support. We can't do it alone. I think that much is obvious."

"I think you should tell that to Harry," Hermione said, a flash of anger in her voice. "He's been alone for 7 years now, not to mention the 11 years he spent without his parents or knowing nothing about who they were. Or did you forget?"

Fudge stammered, trying to come up with something against her verbal assault. "We couldn't fight something we didn't know was there."

"Oh please. He _told_ you You Know Who was back and it took him breaking into the Ministry itself almost a year later for you to beleive him, all the while your Ministry belittling him!"

"I had to make sure there wasn't a panic!"

"And it got you sacked, didn't it!" she bit back, a little louder than she had meant. The heads of many people turned, their conversations forgotten. She sighed and looked at the tired old man in front of her. "I'm sorry," she began. "I'm just a little worked up. I've been beside him for the last 7 years and he's not taking them too well. Dumbledore's death has made him...different."

"And, as I recall, the Minister has tried to aid Mr. Potter."

"And as I remembered it, your Minister was trying to use The Chosen One as a poster boy for something he didn't beleive in."

Fudge gave her a small smile. "Yes, we have made a lot of mistakes in the past, but all we're trying to do now is prevent mistakes in the future. And for that, we need help. That's why I'm hoping someone with Mr. Krum's popularity could help out a bit."

Viktor, having stayed silent throughout the conversation finally looked up from Hermione's slightly flushed face and into Fudge's.

"And vhat vould your minister do vith my popularity? I don't like being used."

"Well he would first like to talk to you in person," Fudge said, rubbing his hands nervously.

"Then tell him I vill make an appointment with him, but I vill promise to nothing."

"Fine, fine. I will gladly let him know. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting, ah yes, there he is. Good evening to you Mr. Krum. And you Ms. Granger," he ended with a slight bow before walking into the crowd.

"Sorry," Hermione said.

"For vhat? I feel you vere justified in everything you said."

Hermione flashed him a smile. "Thank you."

"You're alvays velcome."

* * *

Hermione kicked off her shoes and flexed her toes in the soft carpet in front of Viktor's fireplace. Viktor likewise removed his shoes and took his jacket off, draping it across the nearest chair. Hermione took the chance to reach over her head and stretch out her arms, standing on her toes. She closed her eyes and let the tension drain down from her fingers and out through her toes. She sighed in relaxation before she felt a hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Viktor standing very close to her. The back of his hand was still on her cheek, making a warm tingling sensation spread through her body.

"You looked so beautiful tonight," he whispered.

"Thank you," she whispered back, taking the final step between their bodies. She stood back up on her toes as she brought his head down to hers and kissed him.

Viktor wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her full flush to him. His heart beat quickened as he felt her fingers playing with the hair on the back of his neck. A small groan escaped his lips when she parted her mouth and her tongue licked his lips. Never breaking his kiss, his hands gripped her waist and picked her up just enough off the floor to carry her slight form over to the couch. He slowly laid her down, taking the clip out of her hair before her head reached the cushion.

Viktor finally broke the kiss and looked down at Hermione, her hair laid out like a halo around her beautifully flushed face. "Vhat's someone as beautiful as you doing vith someone like me?" he whispered.

"Because you saw me first," she said, pulling his face down to kiss her again. Viktor gladly pressed his lips back onto her as he lowered his body slowly on top of hers. She shifted on the couch, allowing his body to mold into hers. A low moan escaped Hermione's mouth as she felt his hand glide up the side of her waist and up into her hair. Viktor was shocked when he felt her hips move ever so slightly into his, causing a moan of his own to break through the kiss.

Hermione made a small indescribeable noise as Viktor's mouth left hers. It turned into a full fledged moan as his lips made their way down the side of her neck, pausing to bite lightly right above her shoulder. She could feel his hand moving, his thumb making lazy circles on her stomach, and it was driving her crazy. She could feel every movement his body made and it felt like everytime he touched her it sent fire through her body. Her hands roamed from around his neck to unbuttoning his shirt slowly. He moved up slightly so she could tug it out of his pants and unbutton it the rest of the way as his kisses trailed back up to her mouth. Hermione ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, taking the now unbuttoned shirt with her. She felt movement above her before hearing his shirt land somewhere on the other side of the room. She smiled into his kiss as her hands roamed across his chest, loving the way his muscles flexed with every move he made.

Feeling very confident in herself, Hermione lightly ran her nails from his lower back all the way up to his hairline on his neck. She felt a shiver go straight up his body and back down, and felt rather pleased with herself.

"I'll get you back for that," he whispered in her ear before nipping lightly at her ear.

"Promise?" she leaned up to his ear and whispered back.

Viktor smiled down at her, his hand leaving her stomach and slowly snaking its way underneath her and tugging on the clasps on the back of her dress. As his lips made a trail down her shoulder and back to her neck, he slowly undid every single clasp one handed. As he finished with the last one, his hand pushed the fabric away from the top half of her body.

Hermione gasped as the cool air hit her exposed chest. She felt Viktor smile against her skin. As he moved down lower, one hand very briefly caressed her breast. Hermione's breath hitched in her throat and the hand she had in his hair tightened. He did it again, this time with more pressure. As his mouth found its way down he could feel Hermione's heart beating fast and faster. He paused only a moment to look at the look of pure bliss on her face before he took her nipple in his mouth.

It felt like an electric shock went through her body. Hermione's back arched into him, demanding more contact as she felt him doing things to her she had never experienced. Her eyes slowly closed as she allowed him to completely ravish one breast and then move on to the other. All she could do was hold on and she did, one hand holding his hair, the other making scratches on his back as she bit her lip to keep herself from moaning outloud. When she finally felt him pull away she opened her eyes, her bottom lip still in her teeth. She saw his face flushed and the passion in his eyes before the hand she still had in his hair pulled him down to kiss her again.

Viktor moved his hand to her chest, wanting to touch every inch of her. Her kiss was so incredible it had him feeling light headed and his body quivering at the thought of having her. He felt her hand digging into his back, pulling him closer to her and he loved it. As he moved his hand over her nipple he felt her entire body arch up into his, and a moan escape her mouth. That was all it took to send him overboard. He pulled himself off of her and quickly reached down to pick her up. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs wrapped themselves around his waist as he endured her kisses on his neck while taking her down the hall and into his room.

Hermione felt herself being laid back onto his bed and sinking into the softness before she felt his mouth on hers again. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down as far as he could go on top of her.

Viktor pulled his mouth away from hers and stared into her eyes. He reached up and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes and smiled at her. The way she was looking at him made his heart want to explode.

Normally a patient person, Hermione was beginning to get impatient. Her body was screaming for his touches and it felt like he was slowly torturing her. She just looked up at him. "Please," she whispered, her hips moving against his softly.

Viktor's eyes closed as a low groan escaped his lips. He quickly stood up, bringing her with him. He hooked his fingers in the sides of her dress and slowly dragged it down to the floor. Taking his time moving back up her body, he was pleased to see her shiver at his touch. His hands ran up her legs, over her thighs, across her waist, gently over her chest and settled on her face. His mouth crushed onto hers, this time taking her into heaven with him. He had his hand in her hair, pulling it back so he could have full access to her lips. He felt Hermione's light hands go to his belt and let her unbuckle it before she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Letting them fall to the floor, he stepped out of them as Hermione all but yanked him back into the bed with her.

They tumbled onto it, this time Hermione finding herself on top of him. She gently pressed her hips against his, feeling how ready he was for her. She moved again, enjoying his fast breathing and low groan every time she did it. As she added more pressure, she felt his hands roam back onto her chest. As his fingers went to her nipples, she arched into him, wanting nothing than to rid the remaining clothing between them.

Hermione leaned down and whispered into his ear, "You are wearing entirely too much."

"Mmm, I could say that same to you," he said back before they both moved to take off the remaining offending articles.

Hermione now lay herself back onto the bed as Viktor slowly made his way up her body. Her breathing was starting to become erratic as his hand reached down and stroked her. A low moan escaped her lips as he settled himself over her, one hand still rubbing against her. She gasped and her eyes flew open as she felt him slide a finger inside her. She looked up and saw his face over hers, a smile gracing his lips. She pulled him down for a kiss as he continued to move his finger inside of her. A louder moan escaped her as he finally took his hand away. His face came down and nuzzled her neck. She heard him mutter something in Bulgarian before moving back up.

Viktor looked down into her eyes before placing himself at her entrance. He raised his eyebrows in question and she nodded back at him, biting her bottom lip. He slid himself inside of her, stopping halfway to let her adjust to him. He heard her ragged moan and looked down. He was pleased to see her enjoying herself. He leaned down to her ear. "I'm sorry," he murmured before pressing his mouth against hers and thrusting the rest of the way in.

Her soft cry was muffled in his kiss and she felt him stop. Her eyes watered as the slight pain radiated out into the rest of her body. She had actually forgotten about that part in all the haze. After a few moments, the pain dulled down and the only thing she could feel was him. And he felt too good inside of her, so she moved her hips against him, desperate to release the tension building up in her body.

Viktor took that as his sign to continue and pulled almost all the way out, thrusting right back in. He heard her moan into his neck and he got a shiver all the way down to his toes. As much as he wanted her, it was going to be hard to control himself. He moved out again, groaning as he slid back in. He felt Hermione's hands gripping his sides, trying to get him to go faster. He did as she wished and began a faster pace, slowly gaining speed.

Her small cries and moans were starting to take their toll on him. He groaned as one of her hands grabbed him by the neck and forced his mouth over hers. He moved his hand down and began carassing her nipple as he thrust into her over and over again.

Hermione felt the fire in her body getting hotter and hotter. Every move he made drove her crazy and she never wanted him to stop. The only thought on her mind was getting him closer and closer, which her hands were trying desperately to do. She felt him drive into her over and over again, his groans vibrating through his body and into hers. Hermione's eyes flew open as the fire built up inside her finally exploded. She felt her entire body tighten as wave after wave of pleasure rocked over her. "Viktor," she moaned as she began to come down.

That was all it took to drive him over the edge. He felt himself clench and release, her calling out his name making it all the more better.

Exhausted, his body lay on top of hers. He smiled against her still heated skin as her hands ran through his sweat soaked hair. He looked up at her, the happiness he felt washing over his features. He closed his eyes and laid his head back down, sleep threatening him.

Hermione yawned, her arms moving over her head to stretch. She had never felt more relaxed in her life, and she loved it. She was too happy for words to finally find someone to call her own and she never wanted to let him go.

* * *

Well, it might not be the best, but at least I tried, lol. Comments? Suggestions?

And what is going to happen if Harry and Ron find out Hermione has been 'playing around' while they're trying to bring down the Darkest Wizard of all time? Stay tuned in for next time!


	6. Chapter 06

Disclamier: I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm poor.

A/N: Sorry about the wait for the update, the holidays are killing me. I actually just finished my Christmas Shopping 3 hours ago. I don't suggest Wal-Mart for anyone that still needs to shop. And I don't want anyone to CRY! If you cry, I cry, and then I can't see to type and we all end up crying more.

I mentioned it in the A/N of the 3rd chapter, but I would like to reiterate: The title of this fic is NOT based off the song. I know the lyrics of the song are God and not Gun. This title is refering to the actions and reactions from people in the story. Reactions that are similar to someone with a loaded gun, itching to pull the trigger.

* * *

Harry plopped down at the kitchen table, the thought of breakfast making his stomach more irritable at being empty. He tried to put on a smile for Mrs. Weasley, but his mouth muscles just weren't cooperating. He managed a weak 'thank you' before digging into his eggs and sausage. He had a terrible headache forming behind his eyes, and he didn't know if it was because he was so hungry or because he had been up until 5:37 in the morning poking through the penseive.

"Slow down Harry or it'll come back up just as fast," Mr. Weasley said as he made his way over to the table to sit for his breakfast.

Harry managed a weak smile this time before turning to the glass of orange juice in front of him. He looked up briefly as Ron entered the room, grumbling under his breath about Ginny and scratching his stomach through his shirt.

"Morning mum," he said before sitting next to Harry.

"Honestly you two," Mrs. Weasley began. "One of these days you're going to have to get a good night's sleep."

"How late were you up?" Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry.

"5:30, you?"

"4:40."

They both looked down at their food and continued eating as Mrs. Weasley made her way back over to the table with her husband's tea. Ron had been staying up and researching in the books Hermione had been working on. They both knew they were wrong for what they said and how they acted, but neither had the guts to admit it...even to each other.

"Ah, here comes the morning paper," Mr. Weasley said as he set down his tea and grabbed the paper from the owl that swooped into the kitchen. After giving the creature the crust of his taost, it hooted and and flew out. "Ah, the International Relations Ball," he said to his wife. "I was invited to that you know? Had Order business to attend to though," he said with a sad smile. "Can't beleive they're still having these after all this."

"Now Arthur, it is international relations. We all know we need it now more than ever."

"But a ball?" he scoffed.

Mrs. Weasley gave her husband a smile as she looked down at the paper. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth to cover her surprise.

"Hm?" Arthur asked, but looked back down at the paper. "Oh," he said as he realized what had caught her attention.

"What!" shouted Harry and Ron at the same time.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Who died?" Ron asked right after.

"Nothing and no one," Molly said as she continued to scan the text in front of her. "Just startled at the picture."

As one, Harry and Ron made a grab for Mr. Weasley's paper. Harry ended up with it while Ron ended up with a giant tea stain on his shirt.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked as he saw the wide eyed look on his best friends face.

"_Among the guests at last night's International Relations Ball were Viktor Krum_," Harry read. "_And his date, Hermione Granger. Mr. Krum being from Bulgaria and Ms. Granger from London, they showed everyone at the ball what international relations is all about_." After Harry finished his face was red and if he was a tea kettle, steam would be pouring out of his ears.

"Hermione went to the ball? With KRUM!" Ron asked.

"That's what it says," Harry said quietly.

"That means she's staying with him!"

"Yeah, it does," Harry agreed, his eyes still never leaving the picture.

"What are you bloody staring at?" Ron walked over and took the paper from Harry. His face blanched as he saw a beautifully dressed Hermione wrapped in the arms of Viktor Krum, snogging away in the middle of a crowd. "I thought she said they were just friends!" he squeaked.

* * *

Hermione stretched her feet out on the couch, smiling as Viktor handed her a cup of coffee. He lifted her feet, sat down, and placed her feet on his lap.

"Thank you," she said with a smile before taking a sip of her coffee.

Viktor just smiled over at her. She was positively glowing this morning and no matter what she was doing, there was a smile on her face. He loved that he could make her so happy.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes before the tapping on the window caught their attention.

"That must be the paper," Viktor said as he made to get off the couch.

"No, I'll get it," Hermione said as she jumped up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. She opened the door and let the owl fly in. She took the paper from it's leg and watched it fly back out before closing the door. She walked back into the living room, untying the paper on her way.

Viktor looked up as she stopped midway to the couch and the smile disappeared off her face. He got up and walked over to her. "Vhat is it?" He looked down at the paper and saw the cause of her distress. Even though she was embarassed, he couldn't help but feel a little pride in it. He had just let the world know she was his. He put his arms around her stomach from behind and kissed her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"Why would they put a picture like this on the front of the Daily Prophet?" she asked.

"Because it vas probably the most interesting thing that happened at the Ball" Viktor said with a laugh.

"Oh God!" she said, looking up. "What if Harry and Ron see this?"

"Vhar if? They are the ones that told you they didn't vant or need your help."

"Oh, but the thing is I know they do. And they know they do. I was just making them suffer until they realize it and apologize. Now they're gonna think I've just been...been..."

"Been vhat?" he said as he turned her around in his arms to face him. "Been doing something that makes you happy for once?"

Hermione gave Viktor a small smile. "They won't see it that way. They'll just think of it as me betraying them."

"How are you betraying them?"

She sighed. "By not being miserable like they are," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, the paper falling to the floor.

"Then they shouldn't have been so mean."

Hermione just smiled into his chest and closed her eyes.

"I can't BELEIVE YOU?"

Hermione and Viktor both looked over at the fireplace to see Ron standing there red faced, and Harry stepping out behind him.

"I never want to travel this far by Floo again," Harry mumbled to Ron, who wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention. That's when Harry put his glasses back on and saw Hermione and Viktor standing in the room, looking shocked beyond reason.

"What in the Bloody Hell are you doing here?" Hermione yelled at him.

"I could ask you the same question!" Ron exclaimed

"I don't have to explain myself to you Ronald. I didn't see you telling me to stay."

"Hermion," Harry said finally, catching everyone's attention. "I know I said some things that were ... a little ... uncalled for ... but we've had arguments like that before and you've never-never-"

"No Harry, we never had an argument where you so clearly said that I was useless. It was more than a little uncalled for and I feel like I had a damned good reason to go."

"But to _him_?" Ron asked.

Hermione placed her hand on Viktor's arm as she heard the low growl in his throat.

"I can go wherever I please Ronald, thank you."

"But you were bloody snogging him on the front page of the Daily Prophet!"

"What I do is none of your concern!"

"It sure as hell is!"

"Since when?"

"Since...since...well, since..."

"Since we're your best friends," Harry finished for him.

"The last I checked, best friends don't act like what you two did to me," she said, crossing her arms across her chest and her foot tapping on the carpet.

"Hermione you know we didn't mean it," Harry supplied.

"Yes you did. You said it and you meant it."

"If it makes you feel any better, Ron's been doing your research."

"I thought what I was doing was pointless."

"Well...maybe not so much pointless as...as...slow."

Hermione just stood there looking at the two boys in Viktor's living room, her foot still tapping and her arms still crossed.

"Hermione, we would like you to come back and help," Harry finally said.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly. "Is that an apology?"

She heard Ron mumble something behind Harry.

"What was that Ron?"

"I said I apologize."

"We're both sorry," Harry said. "We were just a little stressed out with everything."

"And I wasn't? You try pouring over old books all day, being told it was useless, and trying to keep you two alive. And by the looks of you both you haven't been sleeping or eating enough. I'm surprised Mrs. Weasley hasn't locked you in your rooms with a basket of food and a bed!"

Harry and Ron smiled.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, apology accepted."

"So you'll come back to help? I don't think I can take another sneezing fit from the dust those books bring in," Ron said.

"I will," she finally said. "But another night like that will land you two in more trouble than you can think of with me and I won't come back!"

"We won't, promise," Harry said quickly.

"Now could you leave please, let me have at least one more day of peace."

Ron looked like he was about to say something about her choice of company before he caught the death glare Viktor was giving him and scooted back over to the fireplace to head home.

* * *

Viktor reached down and moved a stray curl out of Hermione's face as she slept in his arms, her body leaning on his and her leg draped across his waist. He didn't want her to leave, but no matter what he said, she wouldn't listen. He knew she had to go, and he knew they need her, but that didn't make him feel any better. He had finally gotten her and now she was being taken away from him again.

He watched as the sunlight filtering in through the curtains played on her face. He knew it was time to wake her, but he didn't have the heart. She looked so peaceful and the thought of her leaving him was just too much to think about at the moment.

Hermione made a small noise as her eyes opened and she reached up to stretch. She looked straight up into Viktor's eyes. "Morning," she said before snuggling back into him.

"Morning," he said with a half smile before he kissed the top of her head.

"What time is it?" she asked softly.

"Around 9:30."

"Gah!" she exclaimed as she darted straight up. "I'm late!"

Viktor watched as she grabbed his shirt from the floor beside her and slipped it on before she got out of bed and began gathering her things. He slowly made his way out of bed, slipping shorts on as she continued to run around the room and pile stuff on the end of the bed. On one such trip he caught her arm and spun her around.

"Not that I don't like it, but if you keep vearing my shirt you're going to be a lot later than you already are."

* * *

Hermione slammed down the book, waving the dust away from her face before she got up. She had only been back 3 days, but it seemed like a lifetime already. She found herself thinking about Viktor while she was researching and it was taking her longer and longer to get through each book.

"Dammit, you never used to have this much trouble concentrating," she berated herself. She decided it was time to go down for some lunch and see how everyone else was doing.

She walked into the kitchen and sat at the table already occupied with Professor McGonagall, Moody, and Mrs. Weasley. Moody and the Professor were talking in hushed voices and didn't notice her appearance.

"Early lunch dear?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Early? Ugh, it feels like it should be dinner by now," she sighed as she leaned her head down onto the table.

"How about a cup of tea?"

"Thank you, that should perk me back up."

"I'm just not sure if this will draw unwanted attention from You Know Who," Professor McGonagall said to Moody, in a louder voice.

"I think it's a fine choice."

"I don't know. I mean, it will mean less public displays of power, but it might put more people in danger if they find somewhere else to do it!"

"Do what?" Hermione interjected.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I didn't even see you come in." She slid the newest edition of the Daily Prophet over to Hermione.

Hermione looked down at it and saw the Minister of Magic shaking hands with Viktor. She quickly scanned the headline, "Disbanding Quidditch to Help in the War," she read aloud.

"Yes, the Minister got the support of some of the biggest names in Quidditch to shut down the league until after the war is over. That way they can have more people join in the fight and less places where there will be hundreds of wizards packed together. He's trying to avoid what happened at the Quidditch World cup 3 years ago," the older witch said with a small smile. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but it could cause You Know Who's forces to find somewhere else to attack groups of wizards."

"Except he hasn't attacked anything in a year," Hermione said. "And it looks like this was actually a good attempt at bringing people together to realize they need to do something."

"I agree, I just hope it doesn't backfire."

Moody grunted. "It won't if we got a little more security everywhere."

Hermione took a sip of her tea as Mrs. Weasley set it down in front of her.

"What do you suggest Moody? An Auror on every doorstep?"

The old wizard grunted again. "Wouldn't hurt," he mumbled.

Hermione sat back and watched the two bicker for a few more minutes before she got up and made her way back.

She did the best she could to think of nothing but the words in front of her. But that didn't stop the images of Viktor from racing through her head. After lunch and a few more tea breaks, Hermione was thankful when she heard the clock chime 10. She marked her page and closed the book. When she got to the Burrow, she walked straight upstairs into her room and laid down on her bed, not caring about dinner.

Hermione tossed and turned in her sleep. Dreams of a masked evil slowly inching its way around her, taking away everything she loved. After a flash of Harry in a pool of blood, she sat straight up in bed, her body still slightly shaking. She took a few deep breaths before laying back down. Just as she was about to doze off she heard a small thud downstairs. She sat back up and after a few seconds of hearing nothing, she laid down again. As she closed her eyes she heard a loud crash. She bolted out of bed, grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs. She knew the others were hot on her heels but that just made her run faster. There was something in the house.

Hermione ran into the room and looked around, not seeing anything.

"Lumos," she heard behind her.

She looked around the room once more and her eyes fell on a crumpled heap by the fireplace. She ran over to it, her wand pointed straight at the back of its head. She slowly reached down and touched its arm, rolling the person onto their back.

Hermioned gasped, her heart almost stopping as she stared down at Viktor's body covered in blood and his eyes closed. She reached down and touched his neck, barely feeling a pulse.

"Someone! Anyone! Help me!" she called as the rest of the people in the house gathered behind her and began talking in hushed voices all around.

"We have to get him to St. Mungo's," she heard Mrs. Weasley say.

* * *

Aww, poor Viktor! And I do apologize if my writing seems different, but I feel like I'm about to fall asleep. Please don't hate me for it. I promise the next chapter will be loads better. 


	7. Chapter 07

Disclaimer: Don't own it, just covet it.

A/N: Sorry about the sait but was glitchy and wouldn't let me upload the chapter.

* * *

Hermione ran down the hallway and into the room that now held the only man she had ever loved. She raced over to his side and knelt beside his unmoving form. The tears welled up in her eyes again as her eyes took in the cuts and newly formed bruises all over his face and chest. They spilled over as she took his hand in hers and laid her head down on it. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me."

Harry and Ron as well as the rest of the Weasley's stood in the doorway and watched as Hermione cried herself to sleep while holding onto Viktor like a lifeline.

Mrs. Weasley walks in and grabs the chair by the door. She puts it next to Viktor's bed and slowly moves Hermione into it.

"We should take her home Molly," Arthur said behind her.

"She would never forgive us, Arthur. And you know that."

"She's been here for the last 7 hours."

"So have we, and we should all go home for some rest. But she needs to stay here." Arthur opened his mouth to protest but she shushed him with a finger over his lips. "Do you think anyone moved me from your side when you were here and unconcious? Do you think they could have?"

Arthur sighed in defeat. "Harry and Ron aren't going to want to go."

"They'll stay if they want. The rest of us need sleep though."

"I'll get the boys ready. I'm sure Fred and George need to head back to their shop anyhow."

Molly made a slight noise at the mention of the twins shop, but didn't say a word. She carefully placed a small pillow she conjured behind Hermione's head before walking out of the room.

* * *

Her back hurt, he neck hurt, her body was stiff and there was a dull aching behind her eyes. She didn't want to open them, but she had to. She cracked them slowly and let the light from the window slowly filter in, letting her eyes adjust. She opened her eyes the rest of the way and shifted in her chair. 

Chair? She never remembered a chair. She looked around the room and saw no one but Viktor in the bed in front of her. Slowly pulling her hand away from his, she stood up and stretched. After her muscles stretched and moaned, she bent down over his still comatose body. She sighed and moved a piece of hair out of his face she hadn't noticed earlier.

"The longer he stays in a coma, the smaller chance he has of waking up," she remembered the Mediwitch tell her. The tears started to pool in her eyes again, despite the pain behind them. Sniffing lightly, she brushed them away before they could spill.

Hermione kissed Viktor's forehead before she walked over to the window and opened the curtains the rest of the way. Viktor had always enjoyed the morning sun and opened his curtains every morning. It would be no different now, except she would open them for him.

"Oh, you're awake!" said a voice behind Hermione. She jumped and turned around fast, her wand out in a split second and leveled at the chest of the person behind her.

"S-sorry," Hermione said as she lowered her wand to the mediwitch that had just entered the room. "Little jumpy."

"That is understandable," the woman said with a smile. "Has he moved today?"

"No," Hermione said softly. "Not even a twitch."

The mediwitch sighed. "We're doing all we can to make sure he does wake up. If you see anything move, please alert us as quickly as possible."

Hermione nodded to the older woman and her eyes drifted back over to Viktor.

* * *

Days passed and they turned into nights, which melted away into more days. They started to meld together into one long blur to Hermione as she stayed by Viktor's side. The only time she left his side was when the mediwitches came in to administer potions to him and when someone would come by to check up on her and bring her a fresh change of clothes. She would make them stay and watch Viktor as she showered quickly and came back out to resume her post. 

On this particular day, Hermione came out of the bathroom from her shower with a smile on her face.

"Glad to see you can still do that," Harry said as he stood up to let her sit back down. "What's the occasion?"

"I just feel...more refreshed today than usual," she answered.

"Could you vague that up for me?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

Hermione laughed at him before slipping her hand into Viktor's. "I know he has to wake up soon, that's all."

Harry's smile faltered as he looked down at the hope radiating off her face. "Of course he does. He has you waiting here for him."

"Thank you Harry."

"Anytime," he answered before walking to the door. As he reached it he turned around. "Ron and I will stop in later tonight, ok?"

Hermione nodded before grabbing a book from the bag he had left for her.

* * *

Hermione leaned her head back against the chair to ease the pain from behind her eyes away. She let her eyes close and her grip tighten on Viktor's hand. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep, the book in her lap falling onto the floor. The noise echoed across the room but didn't wake the sleeping woman. 

Hermione's hand squeezed back reflexively when she felt hers being squeezed. The thought quickly traveled to her mind and it woke her up immediately. Her eyes snapped open and she looked down to see the only thing that could be squeezing her hand was...Viktor's hand.

Hermione bit her bottom lip as her eyes traveled from his hand to his face. She saw one eye slowly crack open before the other one did. A ragged breath escaped his lips and he just stared forward as they adjusted to the light he hadn't seen in two weeks. Slowly, she saw his eyes dart over and meet hers. With a choked laugh she stood up from her chair and ran her free hand over his cheek.

"Hi," she whispered. She saw him open his mouth, but nothing came out. "It's ok," she said as she saw the pain flash through his face. "You'll be fine. Don't push yourself."

Hermione watched as he raised his hand and moved a stray curl out of her face. This simple act caused the tears to pour out of her eyes. "I-I need to go get the Mediwitch. I'll be right back." She squeezed his hand before turning and running out of the room. She ran down the hallway, slowing only to turn the corner and almost crash into the Mediwitch in charge of Viktor during the night shift.

"Oh my goodness, is something wrong?" the witch asked.

"He woke up!"

* * *

Harry rounded the corner to Viktor's room, Ron at his side. He knew it was late, but Hermione needed all the support she could get at the moment and he would give it to her. It was the least he could do. His eyes darted down the hallway and saw Hermione slumped against Viktor's door, sobbing so much her entire body was shaking almost violently. Harry began to panic as his feet reacted and he ran all the way down to her, Ron hot on his heels. 

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry said as he pulled her into a tight embrace. She just grabbed onto the front of his shirt and sobbed. "Oh god Hermione. Viktor's all right isn't he?"

Hermione just sobbed harder.

"Bloody hell, he's not...is he?"

Hermione finally shook her head and lifter her face from Harry's chest. A smile broke out on her tear streaked face. "S-sorry," she said.

"What happened Hermione?" Harry asked.

"He woke up," she said. "He woke up and I just felt so happy. And then I just started to think about how scared I was he wasn't going to make it. How much it would hurt if I never saw his eyes open again, how-how much I almost lost." Hermione started sobbing again and Harry looked over at Ron, confusion on both their faces.

"Women," they muttered.

The door behind them opened and an older Mediwitch walked out. "Ms. Granger?"

"Yes?"

"You may go in, but I must ask you to be cautious. He's very weak and he needs to rest."

"He rested for nearly two weeks," Ron said with a matter-of-fact vioce.

The elder witch only gave him a reprimanding look before letting Hermione back into Viktor's room and walking back down the hall and around the corner.

* * *

Author Babble:

YAY! Viktor's AWAKE! -dances-


	8. Chapter 08

Viktor put his hand up to his eyes as they met direct sunlight for the first time. It had been 3 days since he had woken up and they were just now letting him out of that cramped place. He didn't like it in there, but stayed for the sake of Hermione. Anything to make her relax, to make her feel safe about his injuries. He looked over at her, the smile on her face radiating out and making him smile. She was carrying a large bag of potions with varied instructions for him to take over the net month. Looks like the curses he took had done some major damage to him internally.

Before he was discharged, Molly and Hermione had decided it would be best if he stayed at Harry's place, the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, to avoid any further attempts on his life. He argued only a little, finally realizing it really was for the best and he would be closer to Hermione.

Upon arriving at the dismal looking house, Viktor was ushered upstairs into a room dimly lit by a few candlesticks on a desk. He walked over to the elderly witch sitting there, Hermione on his right side holding his hand.

"Professor?" Hermione said.

The woman looked up, slightly startled. "Oh, right, please forgive my manners. I've been terribly busy lately. Do sit down. Tea?"

"No thank you," he said.

She gave him a small smile before setting down her quill and leaning back in her high backed chair.

"Viktor, I've been trying to track down which Death Eaters did this and why, but I'm afraid I keep running into dead ends. Were you able to identify any of them?"

"No, I'm not familiar vith many vizards from this country. But they did say something to me before they tried to kill me. They said, 'You made the wrong choice.'"

"Wrong choice..." Minerva mumbled. "That could mean many things."

"I know. But I'm pretty sure they were either talking about my decision to team up with the Minister of Magic, or...my choice to be vith Hermione."

At this statement, Hermione blushed slightly.

"Professor, do you think the other people that signed on for the Quidditch Ban will be targeted?"

"So far none of them have been. And that leads me to beleive it was your association with Ms. Granger that put you in danger."

A flash of anger burned through Viktor's eyes as his hand tightened on Hermione's. "Do you think they vill come looking for her next?"

"No, no. They know she is well hidden when she is vulnerable. And they have yet to try and attack anyone in public. Actually they hadn't attacked anyone in almost a year now. That's why this came as such a shock to us. This could mean they were trying to distract us from something, or maybe they were just sending a warning while You Know Who is still gaining power or plotting." Minerva sighed. She didn't know what to do and that was a first. "Hopefully Severus can shed some light on things when he comes back."

Hermione led Viktor to an empty bedroom down the hall from Harry's.

"We've been trying to fix the rooms up here one by one. I'm sorry if it's a bit...dark, but-"

"It's fine," Viktor said as he smiled down at her. He set down his bag and wrapped his arms around her.

Hermione inhaled his scent and held on to him tightly. She had missed his touch so much. Tears threatened to pool in her eyes, but she blinked them back.

"I missed you so much," she whispered as he looked down into her eyes.

"I'm so sorry I put you through that."

Hermione gave out a small laugh. "Never do it again," she playfully scolded.

Viktor laughed before he bent down to kiss her lightly. As he moved to pull away her hands snaked around his neck and pulled his head back down. Hermione didn't want him to ever stop kissing her, she never wanted him to stop holding her. She tugged on his bottom lip and sighed as his mouth opened to hers. She felt his arms tighten around her, bringing her body as close to his as possible.

"You're supposed to let the poor boy rest dear, not suffocate him!"

They both pulled away, blushes spreading across their faces as Mrs. Weasley stood there smiling at them.

"There will be plenty of time for that AFTER the boy has healed," she said before stepping into the room with an armful of blankets. "I brought you some blankets. It can get rather drafty up here and we don't need you to catch a cold."

"Thank you."

"Now if you need anything, I'm usually here or at home. If I'm not here, just Floo to my house. And try not to overexert yourself. Do you have your potions? And the instructions that go with them?"

"Thank you, I vill, I von't, yes and yes," he replied.

Molly smiled up at the handsome boy. "Such a good boy," she said before she left them alone again.

"Now vhere vere ve?"

Viktor barely had time to settle in before his help was needed. He didn't mind, in fact he was delighted to help. It helped to take his mind off the fact Hermione was hardly available and when she was it was only for a few moments. At first he did various jobs around the house, helping Mrs. Weasley clean out several more rooms, run to Diagon Alley for supplies, and occassionally help Ron sort through the various mess that was a garden out back.

"Viktor," Harry called, walking into the kitchen as Viktor finished his breakfast.

"Yes?" He rarely ever saw Harry and it was even more rare for Harry to say anything more to him than a casual greeting as they parted at the breakfast table.

"Could I ask you for your help on something?"

"Sure," Viktor said as he got up from the table. He followed Harry down a hallway and into a room hidden by a painting of a sour-faced looking man.

"Another one, eh? At least this one's a Pureblood," the portrait said as Viktor walked through the doorway.

Viktor's attention was immediately drawn to the silvery light emitting off the surface of the penseive on the other side of the room.

Harry took a deep breath before speaking. "I've been searching through Dumbledore's penseive for the last 3 months and I haven't found anything of importance. But," Harry said, a smile spreading across his face. "I think I might have actually found what I was looking for. Or at least part of it. Only thing is, I don't know what language it's in. Dumbledore could speak almost any language, so it wouldn't be a problem for him. But I'm at a loss here. And I was hoping you might be able to help me out with it."

"Yeah, I'll help vith vhatever you need."

"Hermione was right," Harry said with his smile getting bigger. "All I had to do was ask."

Viktor laughed. "Am I that easy?"

Harry laughed. "When it comes to her I think you are." Harry turned around and brought the penseive over to the table they were standing at. "Ok, this is the memory I can't figure out. I figure if we can go in together you can help me figure out what's going on. On 3?"

Harry clasped Viktor's hand. "1...2...3" And they fell head first into the Penseive.

Hermione walked into the kitchen for dinner, her muscles stiff and aching from the position she had been sitting in for the last four hours. She immediately looked at the table, hoping to see Viktor. She was surprised when she saw his seat empty. This was the first time she had beaten him to the table.

After she helped Molly set the table and everyone came in to eat, except Harry which was normal nowadays, she still didn't see him. She knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Where's Viktor?" she asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you dear," Molly said. "Harry has enlisted his help and they haven't even come out of that room since breakfast."

"Oh," she said glumly as she began eating. When Harry had asked her about getting Viktor's help with something she didn't realize it would be something that important and time consuming.

Hermione lingered in the kitchen, nursinng a cup of tea as she waited for Viktor to walk in. She waited until well after midnight, but he never showed. Disappointed, she walked back into the room she shared with Ginny.

The young Weasley girl looked up at Hermione. "I was wondering when you were coming to bed," she said with a yawn. "I thought you might have decided to get some last minute work in."

"I was waiting for Viktor, actually," she said with a frown. "He never came out."

Ginny got up and sat next to Hermione on the floor. "I know the feeling. I never get to see Harry and it's driving me crazy. It won't be too long before I have to go back to school and I won't be able to see him until Christmas.

Hermion wrapped her arm around Ginny's shoulders. "Hopefully he'll find what he's looking for in that blasted thing and you can have him all to yourself."

Ginny laughed. "Fat chance."

Hermione went downstairs to breakfast to be greeted with a hearty smile from a very tired looking Viktor. She sat down beside him and brushed the hair out of his face.

"My God Viktor, did you get any sleep last night?" she exclaimed as she saw the bags under his eyes.

"Yeah, I got enough."

"Don't you lie to me, it doesn't look like you got any."

"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't even know I had skipped dinner last night until after midnight."

"It's ok. Just make sure you take care of yourself," she added. "I don't need you to strain yourself too hard."

Viktor smiled at her and cupped her cheek with his warm hand. "Your vish is my command," he said before he kissed her.

A gagging noise interrupted them as Ron walked through the door.

"Oh stop being such a right git," Ginny said as she walked passed her brother and into the room.

Ron stuck his tongue out at the back of her head, making Hermione and Viktor stifle their laugh.

"Seen Harry this morning?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he left about 10 minutes ago. Which reminds me I need to go." He stood up, kissed Hermione briefly and made his towards the hallway Harry always disappeared down.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh.

"Harry sucked him into that thing too, eh?" Arthur said as he strolled into the room, the morning paper already under his arm.

Sorry for the briefness and lack of fluffiness. I promise the next chapter will be ALL FLUFF!


	9. Chapter 09

Disclaimer: I found out I own my computer too! But not the mouse, oh no. I don't own that!

A/N: -shifty eyes-

* * *

Hermione glanced over at Viktor as she brought her glass of milk to her lips. She looked away as he shifted in his seat, his eyes roaming over the paper Arthur had left at the table. She sighed in frustration as he didn't even seem to notice her. 

He looked up finally and Hermione gave him a smile that he returned as his hand reached across the table to hold hers. Then he went back to reading the paper. "Vell, it looks like no other people that vere involved vere attacked."

"Thank goodness for that," Mrs. Weasley said. "We're running out of room," she finished with a laugh.

Hermione and Viktor chuckled at her before Viktor looked at the clock and cursed under his breath.

"And where do you think you're going?" Molly asked as Viktor stood up.

"To help Harry."

"Nope, not today. There will be no work from you kids for the rest of the day."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it! You lot need to get out of this house and have some fun! I've already forced Harry out, so now you two get out of my sight."

"How did you manage that?"

"Ginny dragged him out before he could complain. So now off with you!"

"Thank you so much!" Hermione exclaimed as she hugged and kissed Molly before grabbing Viktor's hand and dragging him out the door.

Molly laughed as she saw the overwhelmed look on Viktor's face. She turned around as Arthur came back in from the living room. "I see you successfully emptied the house," he said to his wife.

She looked over at him and gave him an innocent smile.

* * *

A warm wind blew through Hermione's hair as they lay on the grass in front of a nearby lake. Their hands were linked and her head rested on his arm. 

"I miss days like these," he said. "Vhere I didn't have to share you with everyone. Vhere I didn't have to vork to make the vorld a better place for you."

Hermione sat up and straddled Viktor, her arms on either side of his head.

"I miss you," she said softly.

He smiled back up at his Goddess. "I miss you too. And I hope ve finally figure out vhat ve've found so we can get on vith our lives."

Hermione leaned down and pressed her lips lightly to his. His arms reached up and brought her body down to his as he kissed her back.

Hermione stood up, pulling his arms so he got up with her. "With everyone gone, the house should be pretty empty."

Viktor raised his eyebrow at her as she grabbed his hand and apparated them back to the street in front of Harry's house. She muttered the phrase to make it appear and they slipped through the front door without a sound.

Hermione led the way up the stairs quietly and into his room. After he closed the door behind them she practically jumped into his arms.

"I need you so bad," she whispered in his ear as she began pulling his shirt out of his pants. He cupped her face and kissed her waiting lips, her mouth opening for him to explore. As she finally unbuttoned his shirt, she ran her hands up his chest and slipped it off his shoulders. It fell to the floor soundlessly as her arms wrapped around his neck to pull him closer.

Viktor moved away from her long enough to pull her shirt off over her head before she pulled him back to her. Hermione pulled him back with her as she made her way over to his bed. She sat down on the edge, bringing him down with her. Viktor slowly leaned down onto the bed, lowering her onto her back. Her back arched for him to unstrap her bra and toss it onto the floor.

Hermione moaned and her hands tightened in Viktor's hair as his mouth moved down to her nipples, teasing each one before trailing kisses down her stomach. His fingers quickly unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. He grabbed the sides of her pants and pulled them down, taking her panties with them. He slowly made his way back up her body, kissing the insides of her thighs before kissing back up her stomach and meeting her lips again.

Viktor felt Hermione's fingers trail down his stomach before unbuttoning and unzipping his pants. He propped on his arms to allow her to pull them down, and he pushed them the rest of the way off and kicked them onto the floor. There was now nothing in between their bodies and Hermione brought her hips up to rub against him. He moaned and pressed his lips against hers, growing very impatient. He quickly realized she was just as impatient as she was as she manuevered underneath him and thrust her hips up, making him enter her.

A ragged groan escaped his lips as he pushed the rest of the way into her. He looked down at her, her face flushed, her teeth tugging on her bottom lip. Viktor took her bottom lip into his own teeth and kissed her roughly as he started moving in and out of her.

If they had any intentions of being quiet, they were quickly dashed as the pace quickened and their moans became louder and louder. Hermione could feel her body heating up and the feel of Viktor moving in her felt so good it was almost unbearable. Her hands gripped him hard, her nails leaving trails up and down his back. Her hips were off the bed, meeting him for every thrust, begging for more contact.

Viktor moved faster and faster, the feel of Hermione's nails on his back sending fire trails through his body. He felt the pressure building up and he knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer. Just as he thought he couldn't hold back anymore he felt Hermione's back arch underneath him and her body tense as she pulsed around him. It drove him over and he let the waves of pleasure break across him.

Viktor laid his head on Hermione's chest, listening to her heart beat loudly. Her fingers ran through his hair, moving it out of his face. She brought his face up to hers and kissed him softly.

"I love you."

"I love you. And now I'm ready for a nap," Viktor said with a smile.

"Who said I was done with you?" came her reply.

* * *

When Hermione woke up Viktor was already gone. She rolled over and buried her head in his pillow, inhaling his scent. She closed her eyes for a moment before she forced herself to get up and get dressed. 

She made her way down for breakfast, hoping to catch a glimpse of Viktor, but she had no such luck.

"Enjoy your day off?" Hermione heard Ginny ask as she walked into the room.

Hermione just smiled and winked at the youngest Weasley. "I enjoyed it very much."

Ginny smiled. "I actually made Harry have fun."

Hermione laughed. "Please don't tell me, EVER."

The two girls giggled as Mrs. Weasley walked into the room.

"Morning girls, I trust you slept well."

Hermione just cast a glance over at Ginny who shrugged.

"I slept like a baby," Hermione said to the older woman.

* * *

Hermione groaned and dropped her head onto the book in front of her. She had been trying to read the same thing over and over all day long. She thought that since she had spent the day with Viktor she would be able to concentrate on her work. But it seemed to have made it worse. All she could think about was the night before. She couldn't help but replay each moment in her mind, wishing she was doing it again. 

She picked up her head and dropped it onto the book repeatedly until she heard a light knock on the door. She looked up to see Ginny looking at her like she was crazy.

"Mum says dinner's ready."

Hermione made her way down into the kitchen with Ginny. She looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Viktor, but he wasn't there. She sighed and sat down at the table with everyone else.

About halfway through the meal, they heard loud foot steps coming from the hallway Harry and Viktor always disappeared down. Harry ran into the room, out of breath and grinning ear to ear.

"We've bloody found them."

* * *

Author Babble:

Sorry for the shortness, but the next 3 chapters are going to be longer than usual.

Ohmigosh! There are only THREE CHAPTERS LEFT?


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I asked if I could just own the rights to Viktor Krum, or even just the actor. I think the restraining order expires in 2126.

A/N: The countdown of the last 3 Chapters BEGINS!

* * *

Hermione's heart pounded hard against her chest, her breath coming out in small pants as the rain poured down hard around her. She vaguely heard the sound of a body dropping to the ground beside her. She looked to her left and saw someone approaching her fast. It only took her a moment to realize it was Viktor as he grabbed her upper arm. 

"Hermione!" she heard Harry call. Her head whipped around and she ran towards the voice, Viktor right behind her. She started to trip in the mud, her feet propelling her through the puddles like skis. Viktor's hand still on her arm steadied her and halfway dragged her back to her feet as they kept running. It was then that she heard the footsteps behind them. She didn't dare turn back, she knew who was back there.

When she finally reached Harry's voice, she almost fell against him. She grabbed his cloak to keep from landing face first in the mud.

"Here," he said as he forced a locket into her hands. She looked down at it and touched the top of the locket with the tip of her wand. The locket popped open and Hermione was thrown back into Viktor's arms, knocking them both to the ground. She looked up to see a ghostly vision of a slightly more human looking Voldemort shrieking as it flowed out of the locket and up into the night. After a moment it disappeared completely, leaving only silence in its wake.

Hermione heard the footsteps that had been behind them headed the other direction. Several panicked shouts reached her ears, but she couldn't make out what they were. She felt Harry's hand grabbing her robes and pulling her up as Viktor was sitting up underneath her.

"We need to get back," Ron said to her, barely loud enough to hear over the blinding rain hitting the ground around them.

Hermione nodded and grabbed all three boys as she apparated away from the hell they were in.

* * *

"That was too close for comfort," Ron said as he nursed a large bruise underneath his left eye. 

Mrs. Weasley was positively livid. She had been reassured from everyone that the kids would be perfectly safe. And here they were, drenched to the bone, barely able to get away from the Death Eaters that had been waiting for them.

"I am NOT letting these kids go back out there," she said to an already frazzled McGonagall.

"We don't have to go back out," Hermione said. "We destroyed the last one."

At this announcement, the hushed whispers around the room stopped completely and all eyes fell on her.

"The only piece of Voldemort's soul that hasn't been sent to Hell is the one in his abomination of a body," Harry informed them.

"Now ve have to find a vay to lure him out into the open," Viktor said. "Ve need to do it soon so he doesn't realize they've been destroyed and make more."

Snape stepped out of the dark corner, the room following his every move.

"I may have just the thing. The Dark Lord is planning a full frontal assault with all his followers on the Ministry of Magic itself."

Gasps were heard around the room.

"When Severus?"

"2 weeks from today."

"There's not enough time!" Molly said over the din. "We can't have the entire Ministry set up for an attack like that with only two weeks notice!"

"But it has to be done fast," Snape said. "He does not know about his horcruxes being destroyed. But if you give him time he will figure it out. And then we won't be able to stop him."

Moody stood up. "Then I think it's time we all got out there and started busting our asses. This is going to happen in two weeks whether we're ready for it or not."

Arthur stood up from the table, patting his wife's hand reassuringly. "I'll go wake Scrimgeour. See if I can get his help on Ministry defenses for this."

* * *

Thankfully, the Minister was more open minded and accepted the information of the upcoming attack with an open mind instead of blowing it off as an idle threat. Every Auror out there was secretly called in for a private debriefing by none other than Alastor Moody. The old ex-Auror spent his time traveling between the Ministry and the Order. 

------------------------------------

Hermione ducked as Tonks sent a curse flying over her head. She swiveled on her heel and sent a 'Stupify' back at her, catching her in the chest.

Hermione ran over to the now blood red headed witch and helped her to her feet after a quick 'Ennervate'. "You're getting a lot better," she told Hermione.

"Stupify isn't gonna cut it this time Granger," she heard Moody say from behind her. "They're out for blood, and you need to be out for theirs."

Hermione nodded. "Yes sir."

Tonks gave her a reassuring smile before taking up her battle stance again.

-----------------------------------

Every muscle in her body ached, every move sent a fresh wave of pain through her system. She grunted as she bent down to turn on the hot water in the shower. She reached over and turned on the cold water, waiting for the temperature to be tolerable before she climbed in.

Hermione let the hot water pour over her shoulders and down her back. The aching dulled slighty and the heat relaxed her muscles. She felt all the tension in her shoulders melt away and the throbbing in her upper arms slowly died away. She laid her head back into the water and let it run over her face, washing off all the sweat and dirt on her skin.

Hermione slipped on one of Viktor's shirts before she walked from the bathroom and to his room. She opened the door to find him already asleep in the bed. She tip-toed across the floor and climbed into bed beside him. As she had snuggled in, his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her body against his. She smiled before closing her eyes and almost instantly falling asleep.

That's how things went every day. They would train in curses, train in self defense, and train their bodies physically. It was a crash course but it was the best they could do. And every night Hermione would shower and slip into Viktor's room where he was already sleeping. And he would always be gone when she woke up, his side of the bed still slightly warm and the brush of his lips still leaving an imprint on her forehead.

Before they knew it, before they were ready, the day they all dreaded arrived. It was too soon. She wasn't ready, she needed more time to practice, more time to learn, more time with Viktor. She felt light headed and she thought she would panic. Then he rested his head on her shoulder after his nap and she calmed down. As long as he was by her she would be fine.

And that was the flaw in her plan. They were assigned to completely different parts of the battle.

The dinner that was set on the table was untouched, and this was the first time Molly didn't try to force anyone to eat. The only one who did was Moody. They were a sight to see. Every person was dressed in the Silver robes of an Auror, all of them becoming honorary members in this time of need.

Too soon the stillness of the room was interrupted by the chiming of the grandfather clock Mr. Weasley had gotten for his wife. It read 2am. That was their designated time to leave and take up their positions.

Hermione wanted to cry out when she felt Viktor stand up beside her. She didn't want him to go, she didn't want any of them to go. She looked over at Ron's pale face, Harry's barely composed face, the sparkle of laughter gone from the twins eyes. The only one that wouldn't be going was Ginny and she was visibly shaking. If this went badly she would be the only one in her family to live. Hermione gave her a reassuring smile as she walked out of the room, Viktor's hand pulling her.

When they reached a dark corner he pulled her to him, squeezing her as if his life depended on it. She reached up and kissed him fiercely. When they broke away tears shone in both their eyes.

"You be careful," he told her, his voice shaking.

Hermione gave him a small smile through the tears that were now falling down her cheeks. "I need you to come back to me," she told him.

Viktor reached up and wiped the tears off her cheeks and kissed her once more. "I love you," he said one more time before Harry pulled his arm and they walked out of the house, Ron and the twins in tow.

Hermione's chin trembled with the effort to not cry. She roughly wiped the tears out of her eyes, sniffled one last time before she turned and walked to the fire place.

"Ministry of Magic," she said as she stepped into the fire right after Lupin, her voice only cracking slightly.

* * *

Author Babble:

Don't tell ANYONE, but I actually cried when I wrote the last part of this chapter. And let me tell you, it's hard to type when your eyesight is blurry.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Don't own, I only fantasize I do.

A/N: I can't believe it's almost over!

* * *

Hermione shifted slightly, her leg from the calf down starting to tingle as it fell asleep. Her muscles were aching from being crouched behind the statue for so long, and her ears were hearing sounds that weren't there. At least she knew she wasn't the only jumpy one. A mouse had scittered across the floor earlier, and at least 7 wizards had 'stupidifed' it before it reached them. 

No one said a word, no one hardly moved except for the occassional shift in position to alleviate the stiffness in their muscles. Everyone's nerves were on edge, everyone's wands were being gripped to the point of finger marks in the wood.

True to his word, damn him, the internal sensors went off in the Ministry of Magic at exactly 3:30am on that Tuesday morning. The doors were thrown off their hinges as a flood of Death Eaters ran in, wands ready to kill anything that moved so much as an inch. Their cloaks fluttered around them, the swishing the only sign of their location.

It was an almost inaudible command, one they were trained to hear. As Moody said the word, every one of them stood up from their position and fired a spell into the darkness. They were awarded with several screams and several bodies hitting the floor. They had but a moment before a string of curses were launched at their cluster and they were forced to scatter.

Hermione ducked as she saw the green light of an 'Avada Kedavra' coming straight for her. She felt sick as she heard it hit the person behind her and then their body fall to the floor. She made her way across the dark room, circling a Death Eater until she felt a spell brush her leg. It sent her crashing to the floor, a pool of blood as her only padding. She pushed down the urge to empty her stomach before she looked up.

Fear took her over as she saw the white skull mask of a Death Eater only a few feet from her.

* * *

Viktor and Harry watched the battle ensuing below them. They heard the screams of Death Eaters and Aurors alike. Both prayed that the majority was from the Black Robed attackers. Harry scanned the battle below them from the roof of the Ministry of Magic looking for the snake like movements of Lord Voldemort himself. 

Viktor spotted him first and nudged Harry in the side with his elbow to get his attention before he pointed to the creature walking through the battle, weaving in and out of the fighting.

Harry crouched down on the roof and turned to his team. He held up 3 fingers as he turned back around and watched Voldemort walk towards the entrance to the building. He lowered one finger, Voldemort was nearing the door. He lowered another, Voldemort stopped to admire the carnage around him. Harry lowered the third finger and they all jumped off the roof as one, hopping on their brooms with their wands out.

They flew over the battle, throwing spell after spell down at the unsuspecting Death Eaters. It only took a minute for the enemy to realize they needed to defend from above rather than directly ahead of them.

Viktor dodged a well aimed curse and it merely brushed passed him, the air sizzling where his head used to be. He let out a deep breath as he pulled up from the group of Death Eaters nearing him and turned to see where Harry was. Viktor finally spotted him hovering around where Voldemort was, the snake like man throwing curse after curse at the boy, who dodged every single one as easily as dodging a bludger.

Viktor turned as he saw a flash of black robe beneath him and pointed his wand down. Before he could open his mouth a yellow light caught him in his chest and he fell from his broom onto the hard concrete beneath him. He heard something in his chest crack as blood from a cut in his head seeped into his eye. He squinted as he looked up to see the same Death Eater near him, wand raised.

The Death Eater muttered a spell Viktor couldn't hear, but he rolled out of the way as it grazed his arm. The pain traveled from his fingertips up to his shoulder, causing his entire arm to go limp at his side. He tried to flex his fingers, but nothing he did would make his arm move. Cursing under his breath he gripped his wand tighter in his other hand.

The dark figure let out a low female laugh as it neared him. He raised his wand to defend himself and blocked a well aimed curse that melted the concrete 4 feet beside him. Viktor stood up and shot a spell at his attacker. She blocked and rose her wand again.

"Crucio," he heard her whisper only moments before the pain seized his body.

The pain coursed through his veins, getting worse and worse each passing second. It seemed like an eternity until the pain was too much for him to even move. He just lay there, the darkness closing in around him. The last thing that went through his mind was a vision of Hermione.

* * *

Hermione watched as a flash of green knocked the Death Eater in front of her into the wall 10 feet behind him. She looked up to see Moody standing not too far from her, his wand still pointed at the unconscious figure. 

"Get up girl. It's not your time."

She scrambled to her feet, throwing a spell at the Death Eater closing in behind Arthur. He turned and smiled at her briefly before he disappeared out of her sight again.

She ducked and rolled as another curse threatened to catch her, and was able to ward it off before she tossed a spell at her attacker, rendering them unconscious. While still ducked low, she looked around the room the best she could. Watching the lights of various curses and counter spells, she saw that all the Death Eaters were moving towards the door and slipping back out into the early morning air. Every Auror still able to walk followed them, taking down the ones in the back of the crowd.

The fresh air hit Hermione's face and stung her eyes. Her vision cleared long enough for her to see a wall of black in front of her. Fear gripped her heart for a second before she realized their backs were still turned to her. That's when her eyes moved over the crowd and saw Harry, tumbling from his broom and land with a sickening thud on the concrete below.

Hermione looked over at Moody who silently nodded before he pressed the tip of his wand to the back of the Death Eater in front of him. The person slumped down, Moody catching their weight and silently lowering the body to the ground. Hermione and the other Aurors began doing the same thing, taking them down one by one, praying that they would find an alive Harry at the end.

When the last Death Eater fell, guided down by a tired looking Arthur, they all looked at the back of the Dark Lord who was laughing at a now defenseless Harry. Hermione's heart screamed out as she saw Voldemort lift his wand to fire the final curse at Harry.

"Stupify!" she yelled suddenly, catching the Dark Lord by surprise, but not enough to allow the spell to land.

They all watched as he turned and saw them all, his face actually paling slightly when he saw he was surrounded by Silver Robes and not Black. A cruel smile twisted on his face as he raised his wand to fire a spell at the nearest Auror, who happened to be Moody.

Every person there fired anything they could think of as the Dark Wizard blocked them all with ease. Hermione scrambled from the ground as a curse landed only inches from where her face had just been. She nursed the gash on her side as she stood back up, wand ready for another defense. That's when she saw the flash of movement behind Voldemort.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The sound of the curse echoed through the air. Time seemed to slow as the green light burst from the end of Harry's wand and trailed it's way to the Dark Wizard whose back was still turned. The look on the man's face when the curse hit him was of disbelief for the split second it took for it to drain the life out of his body.

A shell of Voldemort flew across the air, landing loudly on the sidewalk in front of the Ministry. No one moved, no one breathed. They watched as Harry neared the body, his wand still clutched tightly in his hand. He stopped and looked down, kicking the corpse to roll it over.

They were all met with the blank stare of two vacant red eyes. Hermione felt the bile rise in her throat and pushed it back down. She moved over to Harry, pulling his attention away from the man at his feet.

"He's not coming out," she said, wiping a line of blood off his cheek. "You stopped him, he can't come back from that."

As if Harry just realized what had happened, he slumped against her, clutching her and crying with everything he had. Hermione, her side still bleeding, fell to her knees, supporting Harry and wrapping her arms around him.

She looked up and peered around, watching as Mediwitches started apparating into the lobby of the Ministry and running out into the street. The sun was starting to come up over the horizon and everything was doused with reds and oranges. Hermione trembled as she tried to hold up Harry, her eyes closing in pain. After a moment she felt Harry being taken from her and looked up at Ron. She just looked at him, barely even a scratch on him as he helped Harry over towards the mediwitches.

Hermione pressed her hands on the slightly damp concrete beneath her and pushed herself up so she was standing again.

"Viktor?" she said quietly.

* * *

Author Babble:

Ohmigosh! What happened to Viktor?


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I ask and I get no response. How RUDE!

A/N: Sadly, this will be my last Author's Note for this story. Let me just tell you what a pleasure it has been to have you as reviewers and to know that you enjoyed this story, because I enjoyed writing it. Although my hands would tell you different.

* * *

Hermione rushed through the fallen bodies around her, desperately trying to find anyone that looked like Viktor. She ignored the pain in her side as she continued her search, the bile rising in her throat everytime she saw the vacant stare of a corpse. She recognized too many of them as Aurors and she prayed everyone she cared about was alive. 

She turned around frantically when she felt a hand grab her arm. She locked eyes with Harry for a moment before turning to walk away again. A thought popping into her head she turned back. "Where did you see him last?"

Harry just looked at her, pity in his eyes. "He was knocked off his broom over that way," he said pointing. "He was pretty high off the ground-"

Hermione didn't stay to hear Harry finish. She limped as fast as she could in the direction he'd pointed, her side now becoming slightly numb from the pain. She looked down when she saw someone move out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes met a very messy looking George. She got down beside him and helped him sit up.

"It's ok," he said with a smile that faltered when he moved. "I think I just got the wind knocked out of me."

"You need medical attention," she said quickly, looking around for any available Mediwitches. She yelled at the few that were nearest to her and they came rushing over, taking George from her grip.

This is how things went for the next half an hour. She would run off to find Viktor and find someone else. She would call the Mediwitches over and they would take them from her, some of them dying as she held onto their hands. Her eyes were bloodshot, her side had finally stopped bleeding, her robes clinging to it like a second skin. She looked down at the blood on her hands, most of it belonging to her fellow Aurors.

Hermione shuddered when she looked down into the pale face of Lucius Malfoy, the smirk finally gone from his chiseled face. She resisted the temptation to spit on him as she stepped over his corpse. She tripped over another body she hadn't seen and landed on her knees, skinning them and making her wince in pain. She sat back on her heels to see what she had tripped on.

"Oh God," she said, her hands trembling as she moved the hair out of his face. She felt his neck for a pulse, and she couldn't find one. Panic setting in, she looked up, trying to find her voice to call someone, anyone. "Harry," she said, her voice wavering. "HARRY!" she screamed.

Hermione screamed for Harry over and over and over again until she finally heard footsteps headed toward her. "Help," she said meakly as Harry, followed by Ron and Arthur ran over to her. Hermione watched as Harry fell to his knees, cradling the body she had in her lap.

Arthur got down and tried to find any sign of life, but he couldn't, tears falling down his cheeks. Ron pulled Harry away as Arthur levitated the corpse of Remus Lupin over to the Mediwitches and an unscathed Tonks.

Ron stayed behind and helped Hermione off the ground. "You need to see someone Hermione," he told her. "You can barely stay standing up on your own."

"I have to find him Ron, I have to. He's still out here somewhere."

Ron just smiled at her, knowing she was going to refuse before he'd even asked. "Please, take care of yourself," he said again.

Hermione started back towards the direction Viktor had been seen last, her legs starting to give out under her. She slumped to the ground, tears leaving clean streaks down her dirt-stained cheeks. A slight movement caught her attention. She turned and looked left, the wind blowing her hair across her face. She quickly brushed it aside and crawled over to the movement. As she neared she saw it was a chest moving up and down very slowly, making the body half way on top of it raise and fall with it. She shoved the dead woman off and looked down into the pale face of Viktor.

Her heart jumped, he wasn't dead! She raised her hand to feel his pulse beating erratically under his very clammy skin. Without moving she started screaming again. This time Ron, Fred, and Arthur ran over to her calls. As Fred and Arthur carefully moved the dead witch off Viktor, Ron picked Hermione off the ground and supported her weight. She fell against his chest, sobbing as he half carried her to the Mediwitches waiting for them.

* * *

There were few Aurors that were left that could stand on their own as Scrimgeour observed the last of the wounded being taken to St. Mungos. Despite her wounds, Hermione would not be parted with Harry and Ron. Scrimgeour shook his head, muttering in hushed tones with Arthur. Finally they stopped and the Minister of Magic addressed the wizards and witch that stood before him. 

"The entire wizarding world as well as the muggle world owes every one of you their life. And I am going to the Muggle Prime Minister to let him know the events of today. I request, but do not demand, that you accompany me so he can see the heroes of this battle."

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A loud pop ripped the Prime Minister from his work. He immediately looked up to see the _Other Minister_ standing directly in front of his desk.

"I come to you today to inform you that You Know Who has now been defeated once and for all. He and his followers took a lot of ours with him, but we were still successful. He has no hope for revival this time."

The Prime Minister stood up from his desk and walked around, surveying the people in various states of disarray behind the _Other Minister_.

"The people who see behind me are a few of the heroes that battled today. These are the ones that can stand."

His eyes locked with the only girl in the crowd, silent tears running down her dirt and blood caked cheeks. "These are children," he said, gesturing to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Some of them yes, but they saved us, saved you."

"This girl?" he asked, refering to Hermione.

"That girl is the brightest witch to have graduated Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is a muggle born. She is a hero of both worlds," Scrimgeour said, defensive of the already devestated child.

A sad silence filled the room.

"I would like to thank every one of you for what you have done to save your world and mine. I only pray that your lives may return to some sort of normalcy. I think we all need a bit of that." The Prime Minister watched as they popped out of his office one at a time. He looked back over at the girl, watching as the boy beside her wrapped is arm around her shoulders protectively before they too disappeared.

* * *

Those that had just appeared in the lobby of St. Mungo's from the muggle Minister's office were taken by staff waiting for them to seperate rooms. During the commotion Hermione slipped away unnoticed. She walked quickly down the hallway dedicated to the Aurors that had fallen in battle. She looked inside every window, opened every door, hoping to find Viktor. 

She finally pushed open the door to the room Viktor was in. She walked over to him, his chest rising and falling evenly now. There were bandages wrapped around his entire arm and another one wrapped around his chest, stained slightly pink. Relief finally flooded over her and she fell to the floor beside his bed, her body shaking. She had no more tears to spill.

------------------------------

Hermione's eyes opened slowly, taking in her surroundings. She tried to sit up, but the dizziness made her quickly abandon that intention. She looked up to meet the eyes of Harry.

"You should be thankful most of the blood on your robes wasn't yours," he said as she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

One Month Later

Hermione wrapped her bare arms around herself, a cool winter breeze blowing across her skin. She looked up at the sky, counting the stars to avoid the sounds behind her.

A Grand Celebration was in full swing, celebrating the defeat of the Dark Lord, celebrating the fallen witches and wizards, and celebrating the witches and wizards that had survived through it. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want any part in something that would remind her of the hardest times of her life. She just wanted to look forward to her future.

"Never look back," she whispered into the wind.

She felt Viktor's arms wrap around hers.

"You'll catch a cold out here."

She only smiled and leaned back into his warm body as her eyes closed. After a few moments Viktor turned her around to face him, wiping the solitary tear off her cheek.

"I love you."

Viktor leaned down and kissed her, erasing the pain and promising a future of happiness.

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THE END

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* * *

Author Babble:

Would I be undermining my authority to tell you I cried almost the entire time I wrote this? Because I did, I really did. Not only because of the things happening, but because it's over, finished, done. Maybe I'll write a happier follow up fic telling about Hermione and Viktor's future together.


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